Joy is a Choice

I feel like I haven't been very joyful for the past couple of months so this week I have started going through the Bible and studying joy. What is joy? What causes it? So far what strikes me most is the idea that joy is a choice. In at least a third of the verses I have looked at so far, people are commanded to be joyful or rebuked for not demonstrating joy. I am often tempted to think that joy depends on my circumstances, but that's not what the Bible says. It says that "the joy of the LORD is your strength." I need to look directly to God for my joy regardless of my circumstances rather than expecting Him to change my circumstances so that I am comfortable.

When Paul was in prison He had joy because He saw that God was using his horrendous situation for tremendous good. All day long he was chained to guards who worked rotating shifts, and those guards happened to be a part of the official guard of a high-ranking government official. Paul saw this as God giving him a way to bring the message of salvation into the house of this leader. In another letter Paul finds joy in hearing about the faithfulness of a church that he loves, even though he is rotting in prison. Joy is primarly the result of a view that focuses on who God is and what He is doing rather than being focused on myself. It is seeking the glory and honor of God rather than my own pleasure or comfort.

And it is a choice. Just as love is a choice, joy is also a choice.  I am not capable of making either of those choices alone- that it is to say, I can make the choice but I don't have the strength to faithfully live it out. It is God who must work in my heart and give me the strength to love and to be joyful. I love it. God commands me to love, knowing full well that I can not do it without Him. He commands me to be joyful, knowing full well that I will often not "feel like it." In His mercy, He is faithful to give me all that I need to obey both of those commands (and many more), with the result that He is glorified, His church is strengthened, and I feel like I benefit from the deal more than anyone. Who wouldn't want a life of love and joy?!