I’ve been trying to lose weight for a while now, watching what I eat and disciplining myself to work out regularly. I know the scale is not the ultimate measure of health, but it is one measure of progress. So one morning, when I stepped on the scale and saw that I had dropped three pounds since a couple of days before, I felt a rush of victory—the kind where you want to pump your fist and tell somebody. But something made me second-guess the number, so I stepped back on the scale a few seconds later. This time, it showed that I actually weighed a pound MORE than I had three days ago. Ugh! In the span of about ten seconds, I went from celebrating how hard I had worked to feeling discouraged and not even wanting to try! And for a moment, I let that number decide what kind of day I was going to have.
I share this because this experience revealed something monumental about my heart. My joy had attached itself to a number on a machine. But numbers, like circumstances, are fickle. They cannot be trusted to hold the weight of our joy. The Bible explains that God’s presence is where we find complete joy:
“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
God’s gift of joy makes us strong and resolute:
“The joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
The presence of God gives us strength that doesn’t run out when circumstances turn against us. Jesus said something similar to His disciples the night before His crucifixion, amidst the most difficult hours of His life.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)
Jesus wasn’t offering a joy contingent on ease. He was offering His own joy, meant to remain in us regardless of what the day brings. And Paul believed in it so strongly that he prayed for the believers in Rome:
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Joy comes through the Spirit’s power at work in us, not through anything or anyone who assigns us a value. The prophet Habakkuk, writing in a season of real loss, when everything was failing, reinforced this truth about real joy!
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
When everything else is failing, we can CHOOSE to have the joy of the Lord.
I want that kind of settled, steady joy, my friend, don’t you? The kind that doesn’t rise and fall with a number, a diagnosis, a bank account, or anyone’s opinion of me. That kind of joy is only found in the presence of God, sustained by His Spirit, and rooted in what Christ has already done.
When we draw closer to God, our joy never depends on our circumstances!
Prayer:
Lord, I confess how quickly my joy shifts with my circumstances. Forgive me for the moments I’ve let a number, a comment, or a bad day steal my peace. Teach me to find my fullness of joy in Your presence alone. Fill me with joy and peace as I trust You. You alone are my salvation and my strength. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
