The Joy of the Lord

A few weekends ago, I had a conversation with a friend and she asked me 'why must we be broken to say that we know God' and it struck me very heavily in my heart. Speaking for myself, I have the unnerving habit to be crying or in a deep somber mood to truly hear or know that God is speaking to me. My friend went ahead to mention how she had been flooded by TikTok's of Christian's crying speaking of physical and emotional pain due to the revelation of God in their lives and she was confused because she didn't seem to be like them, so she was questioning her knowledge of God. As we continued to talk, I couldn't help but ask myself 'Where is the joy of the Lord among God's people?'

The joy of the Lord is my salvation, this is a promise of His word but lately if I'm speaking personally I have had far much less moments of joy and more of cries. As someone who has been through quite a few dark tunnels in her life I can honestly say that I am comforted by sorrow - I am very comfortable when I am sad or rather when the position of my physical being is in sadness. This is not to say that happiness and joy are not satisfying to me, believe me they are, but when my friend spoke I felt convicted as I have not rested in the joy of the Lord. However, a more baffling finding is that even when in my cries and pain never have I felt so much more at peace. Never have I felt more comforted and I have never felt alone. I think that is the grace of God and how sufficient is God to provide it at the moments I need it the most.

That then brings me to the question of 'What is the joy of the Lord?' Some people say it is peace, others say it is a thirst for His presence and others also say cries not of pain but of deliverance and liberty. This has taken me sometime to understand- What is God's joy? think about it, His word tells us that He delights when we seek Him and rely on Him wholeheartedly so perhaps what my friend sees as pain and brokenness on her tiktok is not just that after all but additionally God's delight at our surrender. Nehemiah 8:10 it says ' Do not grieve ,for the joy of the Lord is your strength' . At your point of surrender and you imagine yourself bare of all your inequities at the feet of Jesus Christ , you may feel scared, worried and at times feel like maybe He has abandoned you - but can you imagine the delight of God as He gazes down upon you as you surrender your will to His. Therefore you can say the Joy of the Lord is your strength as you endure the surrender. The Joy of the Lord is grace and whatever else He has filled your spirit with when you went back to Him.

The joy of the Lord is not about your physical being, this is because the posture of your physical being does not always reflect the truth of the posture of your spiritual heart. You could sometimes feel like you are constantly in pain and cries in your physical being-something I am guilty of . But right there at your position of cries - What is the posture of your heart? What is the posture of your spirit? It is in search of God in His word and He is revealing Himself to you as you abide and are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the joy of the Lord for you are no longer at the influence of the world but you are now in the hands of God and He has promised fulfillment of your soul.

Penzi tele,

Stacey Wambui.