A Joyful Life

I read something in my devotions this week that really got me thinking a lot. The author was talking about joy, joy in a Christian's life and its outworkings, and it made me realize my real reasons for starting this blog. 

"Joy" is a word that people throw around a lot without really understanding what it truly means. It's not the same as happiness, though it's often used the same as that word. People talk about how being with this person makes them happy or helping others fills them with joy or they're just having a happy day (as opposed to a not-so-happy day); they think the two words are interchangeable, but they're really not. And the distinction is really simple: happiness is dependent on circumstances, while joy transcends circumstances. In other words, true joy remains despite a bad day, a tragedy, or a difficulty--these things do not take away real joy. This is because real joy does not come from anything in this world; real joy can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Not that people don't try to find joy in the things of this world. Every day we are bombarded with commercials, advertisements and various other propaganda trying to sell us everything under the sun from makeup to timeshares to vacations to new automobiles, all promising that if we acquire these things, we will be truly happy--we will have joy. Romance novels and movies are full of the idea that if you only find the perfect mate, that person will complete you and give you lasting happiness. Society teaches us that true joy is only one person, one vacation, one job promotion, one more possession away, and the world is full of people who spend their lives striving after it, only to end up hurting and disappointed when these things inevitably fail. The problem is lasting joy cannot come from things that do not last.

Jesus is greater than anything in this world for the very simple reason that He is eternal and He is perfect. He is God, and God resides outside of time, so He will always be there for His children. As He told Joshua in Joshua 1:5, "...I will never leave you or forsake you," or the children of Israel in Psalm 121:4, 7-8, "...He Who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep...the Lord will keep you from all harm--He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." 

He is God, and He is perfect. He never makes mistakes, never sins and, because He loves us more than we could ever imagine, never does anything less than what is best for us, though often we don't understand at the time. But as we children of God grow in our walk with the Lord, we prove over and over that God really does have the best plan for our lives, and even the painful occurrences have a purpose. One of my father-in-law's favorite verses that he consistently repeats is Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose...", and I can say from my own experiences that I have found this true in my life. Knowing that God has a good plan for me, even when I experience bad things in life, gives me peace and enables me to have joy, even in the midst of painful things.

But that is not the end of it for Christians.  Experiencing the peace and joy that comes from knowing that my sins are forgiven and that God has a good plan for my life are only the beginning; it must next be shared into other peoples' lives. I was asked on a job application recently what my proudest accomplishment was in my life, and it didn't take much thought to reply, "Leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ." Yes, I'm proud of my family, and yes, I'm proud of various things that I've done or created, but none of that quite compares to the joy of introducing someone to my Savior, telling them that their sins can be forgiven, that they can be made new and then seeing the joy transfigure their face when Jesus comes to live in their heart! And actually, I can't even take full credit for those experiences because it is God Who leads me to those who are seeking, and it is God Who puts the right words in my mouth to witness to them. 

As I trust He puts the right words in my mouth for this blog. 

That is the reason I decided to start this blog. Yes, I love teaching others how to do things that maybe they never thought they could accomplish before, and yes, I love talking about the different things I enjoy doing (and believe me, I have quite a few hobbies! 😉), but for me, this blog, like everything else I do in this life, has one underlying purpose--to share my faith with the world around me. And, I hope, by the grace of God, that with the Internet's help, that is a very wiiide world. 

"You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

                                                                               --Psalm 16:11