Overwhelming joy is a gift and it’s hidden deep within the heart.
I don’t know about you, but that takes a huge load off knowing it’s not up to me to work it up or produce it. So, let me say it again.
Overwhelming joy is a gift and it’s hidden deep within the heart.
Oh, I know, joy may very well be hard to feel right now, but let’s not reduce it to just a feeling, because it’s so much more. Joy is set in the heart for everyone to unearth. It produces nourishment, sustenance, and grace that overwhelms the atmosphere when we allow it to erupt.
Do you feel like you are always searching for joy that lasts? Maybe joy feels like a tease? Are you afraid to embrace joy because it feels like an act of betrayal?
What if I told you, joy is the special provision from Daddy-God for every single part of the journey? Overwhelming joy is the gift of the Father, planted deep within the heart of his sons and daughters so that we can break through the darkness and experience Shalom.
Along the way of our Advent Journey we’ve talked about how hope is the anchor for the soul, faith takes root and endures, but this week we are unwrapping Joy.
In search of Joy
Joy and happiness are often used interchangeably, which for me is a little problematic because joy is so connected to God. When I allow my feelings to be informed or qualified by the state of my circumstances, it disqualifies all the truth I cannot see. What I mean, is that circumstances only tell part of the story and God is much bigger than all that. His story includes a broader, fuller, and more comprehensive perspective and when we look at it through His lens, it’s beautiful and complete.
We could search the earth for that thing that brings joy, but we will always end up being dissatisfied. That joy-hole? It can only be filled by God and it happens from the inside out. Joy comes through the surrender and then the standing—choosing Jesus in spite of what the circumstances seem to say.
If you want joy, turn it to the Father and let him spill it over. Quit trying to work it up or capture the feeling, simply choose to receive it and let overwhelm you. It will come because it’s a promise.
“You make known in me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Psalm 16:11
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.”
Psalm 126:5
Joy isn’t a reward for good behavior or good performance, it’s a gift for everyone, but it’s important to also note that joy is not only accessed through the good events of our lives. It is also present in the hard, it’s just sometimes harder to see it in the dark. Overwhelming joy will begin with a little spring that bubbles up when we choose to trust God.
Reclaiming the wells of joy
I’ve been thinking about this idea of overwhelming joy and how it comes from within. A picture forms in my mind of cisterns and wells. In the Old Testament, wells were extremely important because they provided a life source.
We don’t see it the same way in these modern times, because water is so accessible, but there are places in the world where water rights are an issue. So, imagine what it would be like to have that water source taken away
“(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father).” Genesis 26:15
The point going around and around in my head is that the enemy will do whatever he can to steal, kill, and destroy—even if it means filling in the well. If you read the whole story you’ll see that later, after Isaac re-digs the wells and finds a well-spring, the enemy comes back to usurp the water rights as well. He is relentless.
Joy is like water—it’s a life source. And the enemy will try and block it up, trample on it, or outright demand it. He seeks to convince us that joy is a commodity that can be traded, but that is not the case.
Joy is planted within. It’s a gift that is connected to the work of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us. We have access—always.
That said, I know there are times where it feels elusive and out of reach. This picture of Isaac and the filled-in wells gives me hope, reminding me that we can take it back. The well-spring of joy may be covered over, but we can reclaim what God has given, what he has won for us.
When overwhelming Joy feels hard
This time of year is especially hard for me, but it wasn’t always. As a kid, I reveled in the delight of all things Christmas—the tree, the lights, big noisy family—all of it. The month of December was always filled with holiday gatherings, Christmas shopping, holiday baking, and lots of Christmas caroling.
I do not doubt how blessed we were. We didn’t have excessive wealth, but we had family, a home, and all the basic ingredients for a season of celebration. Not only that, Christmas day was Dad’s birthday, which only added to the fun.
I remember on Christmas morning, we would go to church for the Christmas morning service (because in the Anglican Church there is always a service), and children were invited to bring along a quiet new toy. One Christmas our minister asked, “Who’s birthday is it today?” I can still see his sheepish grin as all the children yelled, “It’s Simon’s birthday!”
It’s silly, but it was fun. And there are hundreds of memories I can pull that are just as great, but somewhere around the time I left for college, everything changed. I mean, it does and it should, but for me, there was this shift of having to be responsible to manage commitments, traditions, family, and at the same time wrestle through what I believed about this season and Jesus.
As an adult, I have struggled to figure out a way to separate myself from the secularity of the season. I’m not saying that we don’t participate with the traditions of Christmas, but for me, the season needs to be simple so that I can see Jesus in every aspect and it’s from this place that I have been able to re-dig the wells of overwhelming joy.
The Joy of the Lord is my strength
Have you ever noticed that just as you start to experience a little breakthrough, everything seems to come undone? Yeah, me too.
7 years ago, Advent kickstarted a tough season that I didn’t understand. I experienced a depression that I couldn’t fix. There was no trauma, just a quick, intense plummet to a dark place I had never experienced. I felt lost and abandoned.
I remember praying one morning, begging for deliverance. God gave me a choice that day to lean in, trust, stand in faith for the break-through or cycle back. He was so kind. I could have tapped out, but when I realized that this journey would yield more, I choose to endure. As I pressed into God, during this season, He revealed himself and helped me dig open the joy hole.
Overwhelming joy came, but not as an explosion. It was a slow trickle that soon took over. I’m thankful for that journey because the practice of forbearance and holding firm in the dark gave me a framework for the next leg of the journey.
A year later, on January 1, 2014, my Father went home to Jesus. They tell us it was a heart attack, but it was sudden, and it has forever changed everything.
Joy feels hard at this time of year. All these memories and this huge gaping hole of loss are hard to entertain in the same space, but joy and sorrow are partners. True, sorrow can get a little loud by times, but that doesn’t mean joy doesn’t get her say. Overwhelming joy is a lifeline, restoring order and aligning our soul with truth.
“…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
When overwhelming joy feels hard, I anchor my soul to the promises of the Lord.
Overwhelming joy leads the way
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”
Proverbs 4:23-25
Crooked speech is anything distorted or perverted. I use to understood that to mean unwholesome speech, but when I looked up the Hebrew word for crooked speech it connotes speech that is twisted or false.
We need to protect our hearts because that is where the life source is and we do that by putting away crooked speech, wherever it comes from. This is important because although we can have success in shutting out the exterior noise sources, we often fail to shut down the inner voice—the self-talk.
Remember how I said the enemy likes to steal, kill, and destroy and that he will fill in the joy well at every opportunity? He does that because he knows that joy can be a weapon that leads the way. You and I, though? We are not helpless.
We can use the tools God has given us, to overcome the onslaught of the enemy. Start with hope. Hope is the anchor that gives faith a place to stand. Faith for the moment is ignited when we trust God, and in that place of faith, where we believe God and stand in truth (not crooked speech), overwhelming joy springs up. But it’s about establishing a habit; a practice that marks the way so that our entire being—body, soul, and mind—move together.
We keep our heart with vigilance when we are ruthless about fixating on what is true. When we understand that God is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do, we have a place to hold and to stand, which gives us the strength to overcome. Believing God is how we agree with him for his will, his power, his grace—all of it.
Unwrapping Joy
So, how about it?
Do you feel brave enough today to grab ahold of the joy gift planted deep within your heart?
It starts with simple surrender and then a determination to just stay with Daddy-God, who has so much kindness to release. It is His delight to demonstrate his goodness.
“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his great love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17-18
Overwhelming joy is not beyond our grasp, we only need to follow the example of our Father. When weary and dark hover, we worship and sing our way out. Choosing joy doesn’t negate or ignore what is, it just reaches for the light.
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