I Thessalonians 5:16 – “Awesome!”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁶Be being joyful always.

I’ve been looking forward to studying this verse. As I have often lamented, in my life I have found joy to be an elusive virtue. I could look over that list of the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, etc. – and honestly say the Lord had taught me a lot about the other eight virtues, but the “joy” thing … not so much. As I have often said, I know I have much to be thankful for and I know I am blessed beyond my wildest imagination, yet the fact has remained that life is very painful, and then, of course, there is that awful load of regrets that seem to drag along behind us.

Into that world, the Lord has this simple encouragement: “Be joyful always.”

Just in the last year or two He has taught me a lot about what this means and how it happens in my life. The greatest thing He showed me was that this really is His world and that the life I live I get to live only because He is allowing me to be a part of what He is doing. Like most people, I’ve always seen it as me living my life and I need His help. I thought I needed to pray to get Him to come be a part of my life. But He has shown me that I had it all backwards. This is His world. My life is His life. He is at this very minute accomplishing His unfathomable work of grace in this world. And, in fact, I am alive because He, in His infinite kindness, is allowing me to be a part of what He’s doing. What He wants from me is for me to be a willing part of what He’s doing. The whole universe is sweeping along in His great eternal plan. Out of all the universe, He gives us humans the freedom to choose whether we will be a willing part of that plan or not. Those who choose not still end up a part of the plan. “The wrath of man shall praise Him.” He is so great and so infinitely wise, He can give every single human being complete freedom to choose every second of every day who they will be and what they will do and, then,  whether they choose right or wrong, He will still weave it all ultimately into His great eternal plan. The key for me is to be a willing part of what He’s doing.

That realization actually gives me joy. And because it is completely rooted in Him, I know it is real Holy Spirit joy. That has actually made my life a lot more consistently pleasant for the last couple of years. I wake up in the morning looking forward to the day just knowing I’ll be a part of whatever it is He’s doing. And even though I know it may be hard, what matters is that it will be a part of what He’s doing. This is my chance. Today is one more opportunity to walk along with Him.

All of that has allowed me to actually experience what I know is real, grace-given, soul-deep joy.

Yet, I come to this passage, “Be joyful always,” and still my heart wrestles with the idea. In the Garden Jesus said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.” Paul said in II Cor 1:8, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself;” and in Philippians 2:27, speaking of Epaphroditus, he said, “Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.”  The Bible clearly doesn’t hide from the fact that life is very painful. In this world, Jesus Himself was called “a man of sorrows,” yet He calls us to “be joyful always.” My puny brain struggles to reconcile it all.

Yet I know the answer and it is Him. David said, “You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand” (Ps 16:11). The face of Jesus is the face of love, the face of grace. A night sky is filled with the light of a million sparkling stars, but when the sun rises, they all disappear. So it is when the Sun of righteousness arises in our hearts. He is joy. And in His presence, nothing else really matters. The pain and the troubles may all be very real, and very painful, yet, as believers we have the freedom to say (and really mean), “For to me to live is Christ.”

Once again, how awesome is this? Jesus calls us to leave our cherished sins and follow Him and what do we get for it? Joy. Real, true, soul-deep joy. He calls us to die to ourselves, to give up our aspirations of pleasure and possessions and power. The common human perception is that He is calling us to a life of grim joylessness, of harsh self-denials – that basically we have to give up any pleasure at all. But what is the truth? The truth is that He is the only real source of joy. Giving up our dirt and straw, we find in Him the pure gold of joy.

That is what He wants for us. That is what He intends to give us. The closer we get to Him, the more of it we’ll know.

How awesome is that???

A couple of passages that I’ve enjoyed reading in these regards:

“But let all who take refuge in You be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over them,
    that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous;
    You surround them with Your favor as with a shield” (Ps 5:11,12).

and

“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” (Romans 15:13).

How awesome is that? He wants us to have joy.  In Him we find joy. If we don’t have enough of it, it’s because we don’t have enough of Him. More Jesus, more joy. That is our God. That is the King we serve. Awesome.

“Be joyful always.”