What are we thinking about JOY this week?

Amen to all of the POSTs and comments on our discussions of JOY--as well as to all of the text messages and emails that have let me know that in some way or another we truly are contemplating, musing...hagah (chewing, meditating, gnawing upon)...the concepts and Truths that the HolySpirit has been placing upon our hearts and minds about JOY!

So, now that we have been graced with yet another whole week to think upon this particularly amazing "fruit of the HolySpirit", I am curious to know what parts have begun to, well, perhaps clarify?...solidify?...deepen?...or at least come more into focus? for everyone.

I keep asking myself how I would best define JOY, and, although I kinda feel like I'm getting closer, I still find myself more often describing what JOY feels like, or perhaps going further and recounting times in which I feel joyful, or of circumstances which give me joy, or maybe even what happens or what I do when I am joy-FILLED.  I have read articles that define JOY as feelings of great elation...of extreme gladness...the relief, assurance and pleasurable conviction of fulfillment...or, maybe as less of an emotion and more of a deep contentment or satisfaction...as all-encompassing confidence in true hope...as indescribable gratitude and thanksgiving in remembrance.

I remember a scene in a movie in which a teenage boy was trying to describe "color" to a girl who was born blind. After realizing that saying things like "the sky is blue" or "the grass is green" was frustratingly incomprehensible to her, the boy decided to let her "experience" color instead.  So he filled buckets with things like ice cold water (blue), fluffy soft cotton balls (white), hot chili peppers for tasting (red), soft freshly turned soil (brown), hard pieces of gravel (black), etc...and allowed her to start learning about color through experience. Although she would never be able to "see" colors in the way our "sight-filled" world has taught us to recognize them, she began to "experience" the colors in ways that went far beyond labels, engaging all of her senses and conjuring up sensations and the recognition of connections that were until then untapped and seemingly far removed from her ability to understand or know. 

And so, I am beginning to think that this is the way with JOY, too. JOY is experiential...a manifestation, a result of, a wonderful wonder-filled consequence of our connection with the God within us. Each one of us can pull up an experience, a moment, a time or a feeling of JOY in our life...tapping into the incredible sensation of recognizing something beyond us, deeper than us, huger than us, so amazingly greater than anything we could ever fathom...and being filled with an undeniable indescribable sense of love, gratitude, release, hope and trust, assurance and awe...joy. NO matter what is going on around us.

So, someone once taught me that JOY is a state of being that can only come out of a willing choice to remember...an act of release and acceptance...a true knowing of HIM who lives within me that produces a hope that truly knows (has experienced/has been shown) HIS sovereignty, HIS forgiveness, HIS mercy and compassion beyond understanding...and then, the decision to fall into that knowing...to trust with every fiber of my being. To WALK in that knowing at every moment, with every breath, with every thought, in every act and decision...and so, be able to fully LIVE.  It's truly a FRUIT of the HolySpirit dwelling and working and partnering within ME...no matter what is happening around me.

And so going back over all of the verses, I began to notice that the words only made sense/had impact when I viewed them through the perspective of relationship with and in the God that lives and breathes life within me.  Whether talking about hope in times of trials and suffering, remembering in times of happiness or of woe, consolation when I have strayed, staying steadfast in times of seeking and "listening"...all of the verses on joy and rejoicing speak to an underlying relationship and intimate connection to the God that "resides in the castle of my heart"!

Two sets of verses that have really spoken into my heart this week are from Isaiah and Psalms--for some reason, looking through the lens of on-going relationship and the forgiveness after the falling away, the recognition of the freedom from fear and self-centered focus and worry, the love (and His sovereignty IN that love) over all in my life...just fills me with, well, deep deep gratitude...and JOY!

Isaiah 12 (Amplified):

And on that day you will say,

“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;

For though You were angry with me,

Your anger has turned away,

And You comfort me.

“Behold, God, my salvation!

I will trust and not be afraid,

For the Lord God is my strength and song;

Yes, He has become my salvation.”

Therefore with joy you will draw water

From the springs of salvation.

And in that day you will say,

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name [in prayer].

Make His deeds known among the peoples [of the earth];

Proclaim [to them] that His name is exalted!”

Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent and glorious things;

Let this be known throughout the earth.

Rejoice and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. 

Psalm 16 (NRSVCE):

Song of Trust and Security in God

1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

   I have no good apart from you.”

3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,

   in whom is all my delight.

4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;

   their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

   or take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

   you hold my lot.

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

   I have a goodly heritage.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

   in the night also my heart instructs me.

8 I keep the Lord always before me;

   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;

   my body also rests secure.

10 For you do not give me up to Sheol,

   or let your faithful one see the Pit.

11 You show me the path of life.

   In your presence there is fullness of joy;

   in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

So! Any thoughts?? Share in a new POST or add a comment to this one--and let's share the pathways the HolySpirit has been walking us through!

Stay warm and safe and healthy this week. Pray always and hard!

love
maggie