SECURE JOY

Have you recently read through John 14, 15, 16? I did this morning as part of my devotional time. There is a saying that describes being overwhelmed by too much, or too intense information. "It feels like drinking from a fire hydrant." Whew, I felt like that this morning. There is such an amazing abundance of truth and spiritual insight in these chapters. No wonder the disciples were at times confused.

From these rich deep chapters, I choose just one thing on which to comment: "joy and rejoice." One primary NT Greek word (noun and verb) for joy occurs about ten times in these chapters. Jesus is making it clear that the joy He promises to his disciples contrasts with the joy the world offers. He wants them to experience a joy that is complete or full. (15:11; 16:24; also 17:13) He promises that this joy He provides cannot be taken from them. (16:22)

What a contrast to the happiness/joy that we all naturally experience as humans. Happiness/joy can be very superficial like what I feel when enjoying a large bowl of ice cream. It can also be very deep like the happiness/joy someone feels when getting married or when holding their newborn child. At times in these deeper moments of natural happiness/joy people may say "I feel complete."

But we know that even these deep human happiness/joys are not guaranteed to last. And they really can't "complete" us. Too many marriages endure great pain and betrayal. A large percentage dissolve and leave deep wounds and sadness. The happiness/joy of parenting becomes a very painful bitter experience when a teen age child or young adult child rebels. Angry devastating words and hurtful actions that break the relationship steal all the happiness/joy of parenthood.

So we turn to Jesus, the only One who can provide a deep inner joy that makes us truly complete and feels complete. He is the only One who provides this joy that no one and nothing can steal. Countless Christians have testified that in the midst of the most terrible pain and suffering the joy Jesus gives remains very real, sometimes especially real in the midst of their worst days.

Nothing seems secure in our rapidly changing world. But we who have entered a faith/obedience relationship with Jesus are secure. We daily experience His wonderful secure joy even when we are far from being happy. "The joy of the Lord is our strength."