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We Christians love to sing about joy. Little kids belt out “I’ve got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart.” Classical music lovers go as far back as 1824 to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and a 1907 poem to sing “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” And people all around the globe sing “Joy to the World” at Christmas.
Like those cheerful, upbeat songs, it’s easy to think of joy as a “warm, fuzzy feeling” that accompanies those really great moments in life. But what about the unsung side of joy? The side where Paul found it necessary to remind the Philippian believers, yet again, to rejoice. In fact, he encouraged them to practice joy because it would be a safeguard for them. How about King David calling joy a sacrifice? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never sung any songs about joy being a sacrifice or a safeguard!
I learned a bit about those unsung sides of joy during the COVID-19 crisis. In the middle of a total lockdown in Peru, my boys and I read Paul’s encouragement in Philippians 3:1, and the idea of joy being a safeguard made sense to me for the first time. Just like we put on masks each time we went out, my kids and I started listing reasons for joy each morning, and it really did help to guard us from negative feelings. Later, as I pondered David’s words about God keeping him safe during days of trouble, I was drawn to the fact that he thanked God through a sacrifice… of shouts of joy!
Sacrifice always involves giving up something, so how can we make a sacrifice out of joy? During the lockdown, we had to give up our plans, we lost our opportunities to gather together with family and friends, and we had no chance to “serve God” the way we normally do. But I also had to give up my selfish desire to feel sorry for myself. Only then was I able to begin choosing joy, and once I did, it really was a safeguard for me!
Do you find it easier to choose joy when dealing with the big issues of life or when faced with the more mundane, day-to-day things? Why do you think that is, and how can you work toward making joy something you choose all the time?
Personally, I find it a lot harder to choose joy during the mundane, daily aspects of life. That doesn’t mean I’ve done a great job on the big issues, however! I remember spending more than a year in the depths of despair over a miscarriage and infertility, but even in the darkness of those days, I knew God was working in my life. He was slowly teaching me to choose joy. I think, though, we often forget God is doing the same work in our lives during those daily frustrations (arguing kids, running out of gas just as you begin cooking, yet another day of quarantine lockdown…) that we don’t often think of as character-building trials. I wish I could do a better job of seeing God’s hand in every one of those frustrations, because that would help me to remember to choose joy!