One Way to Joy?

Is there one way to Joy like the photo implies? I am not sure, however, understanding what real joy is may help us figure that out. We usually think of joy as an emotion of great happiness. To me, that makes it a bit fluid and flighty. Joy is a noun, a thing. It is not something one can physically touch, and it is not always giddy. But we usually recognize it when we have it. Or do we?

I have heard joy defined as a “certain hope.” I like that definition because real joy has a solid satisfaction about it. This certain hope also has the capacity to hold us steady in difficult times. Maybe circumstances all around us appear overwhelming. Is there one way to joy? Probably not, however, I believe there is one person who can provide us a certain hope.

Over the years I have experienced this certain sense of hope many times. Interestingly, this joy has come in the middle of some of my most difficult times. After my son nearly drowned in a half bucket of mop water in Africa . . . I literally felt buoyed up by the prayers of others. I was not “happy” but I knew Jesus was still in control. My personal relationship with Jesus gave me a solid sense of His presence with me. I found a place to rest in my soul that no matter what happened, the goodness and mercy of my Creator would be with me all my life.

Through a coup d’état, typhoid fever, moving across countries and continents, back surgeries, children’s “adolescent adventures,” deaths in the family, and so much more, I have learned the way to joy. Like all of us, I am still on this journey of life.

You see, joy is a something we can possess. We can cultivate it like we do a plant, or better yet, a friendship. I have found the most lasting source of joy to come from our Redeemer. 

“He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6 

Our certain hope, our way to joy, is found in the One who knows us completely. Jesus never forces us, but always patiently waits for us to seek Him. “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14a 

Will you turn to Him? Will you allow Him to lead you in the way to joy?