True joy is not a thing of moods, not a capricious emotion, tied to fluctuating experiences. It is a state and condition of the soul. It survives through pain and sorrow and, like a subterranean spring, waters the whole life. It is intimately allied and bound up with love and goodness, and so is deeply rooted in the life of God.
— Rufus Matthew Jones (1863–1948)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
~ 1 Peter 1:3-9
What kind of joy is Peter talking about? Super-Abundant Joy. Hyper-Joy. Other passages associate the concepts of a gushing, leaping kind of Joy.
When is this joy most evident?
In suffering.
What?
Yeah, there is a simple equation for a believer walking in obedience to the Spirit:
Suffering=Joy
AND
more Suffering=more Joy.
Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him.
~Dwight Lyman Moody (1837–1899)
See beloved, we are talking about the blessed hope of moving ever-closer into the presence of Love Himself, both now and… forever. Nothing compares to this. Nothing can separate us from this. Nothing breaks down in this path once we have turned our lives and will over to the One who is able to complete the work He begins in us.
He gives us a glimpse. And we realize that nothing else matters. Not ever again.
His perfect Love drives out fear.
Circumstances become irrelevant. Our faith begins to grow, obedience is in the ascendant, peace begins to flourish … how could we be destroyed by anything this world could throw at us? Those things are most surely passing away. They are real – for sure. But their reality fades into the ridiculous compared to what He provides now to those willing to receive, and what He absolutely will provide into the future.
He has saved us from hell. And He has even saved us from ourselves. He has provided a way for us to live in simple, yet profound, righteousness, joy and peace… right now, by the power of His Spirit living in and through us.
So… suffering? It’s just a reminder.
Suffering is a reminder of what Christ went through for us. It pounds the knowledge into our slowly-softening hearts of what the very G_d of the universe did for us. The more we suffer, the more we realize how important G_d must think this whole deal is. It must be worth more than we can even imagine. And from this dawning knowledge springs joy; an abundant Joy, rooted in the blessed Hope of an unfathomably wonderful future in Him.
Makes you want to leap! Makes you want to gush about your Hope!
