Do you know what some of the definitions for the
word joy are? In the dictionary there are several interesting meanings
of joy. One is “the cause of joy or happiness.” Two more are “to give joy
to; to entertain kindly” and “to gladden; to cheer and encourage.” Also,
joy means that no matter what happens we still are happy and uncomplaining.
After reading those definitions, we can now ask ourselves if we have true
joy. “Am I a cause of joy and happiness in my family?” “Do I kindly entertain
and gladden others when I am near them?” “Do I keep a cheerful, sweet attitude
even when my day goes all wrong?” Oh, oh!!! Maybe we really don’t know
what having joy means after all. . . . . .
One thing that we girls as sisters and daughters struggle with is “fair
weather joy” (at least you do if you are like me! :-)). It is very easy
to be joyful only when our days are fine, and then, when troubles start
piling up, we start grumbling and our happiness is gone. :-| Should we
depend on circumstances to be happy and be “joyful in the Lord.” (Psalm
35:9)? No, I don’t think so! In Isaiah there are verses that talk about
everlasting joy, and wouldn’t that mean that we should be joyful even amidst
hardships? Oh! That sounds difficult to do, doesn’t it?! However, as Nehemiah
8:10 states, “The joy of the Lord is your strength”, and we can have an
unquenchable joy that nothing can take away!
I know, in my own self, that I frequently lean towards doing just what
I have to do or just doing my part. Yet, it really doesn’t matter if we
walk one more step at making others happy. In fact, our own lives are benefited
when we take more time out for brothers, sisters, and family and friends.
You will get true joy when you place Jesus first in your life, others next,
and yourself last. (Notice that the first letter of Jesus, others, and
yourself spells out JOY?!) So next time you have a day that you had planned
for yourself, but other people are wanting your time and attention, let
go of your desires to spend the day for yourself, and spend it for others,
and more importantly, spend it for the Lord. How about going one step further?
Let’s try to spend every day for the Lord and others! Now that is the way
to get true, everlasting joy! <>