Fruit of the Spirit Series: Joy- Part 2 of 9

          To start out with, many people have a hard time knowing the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is enjoying the current moment, is mostly an emotion, and tends to come and go very quickly. Joy, however is enjoying what God is doing in your life in the big picture, is more of a mindset than an emotion, and normally sticks around despite changing circumstances. As people pursuing the character of God, we do not ignore happiness, but we learn to focus more on joy than happiness. A word that helps understand joy is contentedness. Philippians 4:11-13 says:

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

           We learn over time that God means more to us than any temporary stage of life we are in. There is plenty in the Bible about enjoying the moment and beauty of life, but, more often, we are reminded that there is a God and a gospel that will carry us through any and every circumstance. We do not say that we are content because we have suppressed our natural desires. Instead, we learn that our truest desires are fulfilled through a passionate pursuit of God, as advised in Psalm 37:4:

4 Delight yourself in the Lord
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

           Also, please know that joy, along with the other fruit of the spirit, is not some sort of fake emotion that you are supposed to force on yourself in hard circumstances. The fruit of joy comes from spending time in intimacy with God. Also, as might be surprising, many times of great joy in our lives actually come in times of great sorrow. This is because we recognize that God is there for us, even in the harshest of times. This is a big release because God doesn't expect us to try to bottle up and hide our emotions from him. Check out Psalm 38:9:

9 All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.

              God wants us to lay all of our sighing before him. Pretending not to feel emotion in a trial is not strength; it is foolishness. In contrast, joy is cultivated by offering every day up to God and being determined that only he can bring fulfillment and direction to that day. Following this guideline, James 4:7-8 tells us:

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

          We learn over time that God really just wants us. He doesn't want to use us like some sort of a hammer, as if the only reason he wanted to grow in intimacy with us was so that he could save people or change the world. While those things are important to God, he really wants you. God is love and is motivated by it to draw you closer to himself. While the world will tell you to interpret today based on how you are feeling, God wants you to interpret today based on how he feels about you. This is the source of joy; this is the reason that joy tends to stay from day to day while other emotions fade. God's emotions do not fade away. God doesn't love you more because of some spiritual accomplishment; he doesn't love you less because you fell into sin. That's the way of the gospel: we come to God with nothing and he gives us everything, everyday. Think of 1 John 4:10:

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[a] our sins.

          To close, I want to point out that a verse says that both today's fruit, joy, and the next fruit, peace, come from trusting in God and letting him move in you. Romans 15:13 says:

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

See you next time!
In Christ,
Simeon Snow