Finding Joy to Choose It

 

Several months ago, we were preparing for Rusty’s last trip to MD Anderson Cancer Center to have more tests.  A friend who knew I was concerned about the potential results, gave me a card along with a key ring that says... Choose Joy.   A few months later, Rusty and I sat at another hospital waiting on another test to again screen for cancer.  As we were completing the registration paperwork for the MRI, I noticed a sign on the wall behind the receptionist that said... Choose Joy. I knew that it wasn’t a coincidence and that God used it to remind me not to lose my joy, no matter the outcome.  

As I sat in the waiting room while he had his test, I began to think about the process of choosing joy and how before we can choose it, the first thing we must do is find it.  When making any purchase, before you settle on exactly which item you want to buy, you first have to find it.  So, how do we find joy so that we can choose it?

True joy comes from God but is found inside of us, if we abide in Him.  In John 15, Jesus is speaking to his disciples when He refers to himself as the vine and them as the branches. He says, I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.  This was one of many things that Jesus taught them.  In John 14, He told them that once He was gone, the Holy Spirit would be with them to teach them and bring to remembrance the things He had taught. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us once we become a child of God.  The evidence of that is found in the fruit of the Spirit, referenced in Galatians 5.  It should come as no surprise that one of the fruits is joy.  

Joy is often associated with happiness.  I've heard it described as everlasting and happiness as temporary and I've read that it is an inner feeling while happiness is an outward expression of that.  Whatever the relation, we know that it's not always easy to feel happy or joyful, especially when faced with trials.  However, we're told to even count those as joy in James 1:2.  As hard as it may be, sometimes I have to be reminded of that.  When I am, I realize that as long as Christ lives in me, my joy has never really been lost.  I may have just temporarily forgotten where I placed it and I need to go find it and pick it back up.    

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  -James 1:2-3

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.  -Galatians 5:22-23

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. -Proverbs 17:22

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