Choose Joy!

Happiness depends on “happenings” or external circumstances, but Joy is more permanent. So, what is Joy? Joy is more than a feeling. It is the fruit of the Spirit and is the confident assurance of God’s goodness now and into the future, no matter the circumstances! Kay Warren in her book “Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough” defines Joy as this: “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

Joy is our inheritance as God’s children. The enemy comes to steal our joy and trust in the Lord. However, we need to make a conscience choice to choose joy everyday no matter our circumstance. Psalm 126 gives us a great blueprint for how we could live in joy! In 597 B.C. Judah was conquered by the Babylonian king, King Nebuchadnezzar and the people were taken into exile. After 70 years, the people in exile in Babylon were back in Jerusalem! The pain of God’s people was not permanent, and the reversal and deliverance was great! Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning! Psalm 126 was written after the return from exile in Babylon probably around 516 BC.

Remember what God has done in the Past
Psalm 126:1-3
¹ When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.
² Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
³ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
This event of the exiles returning to Jerusalem from Babylon was hugely significant for the people and a time of great joy, so much so that it seemed that they were dreaming at the time. Even the surrounding nations could not believe a ruler would return the captives back to their homeland. And so, when God bought them home to Jerusalem, they were filled with laughter and joy and could not believe what God had done for them!

However, note that these verses are written in the past tense. The present circumstances in Jerusalem were difficult – their homes were in ruins, the uncultivated land was fallow and the temple a heap of rubble and rubbish. There was so much work to do and it was overwhelming. The joy was already in the past, the present difficult and the future uncertain. Despite this, the people stopped and remembered the joy of their deliverance. They looked back and recounted how God had done the impossible for them!

We too can feel that we are in exile when we look at the difficult circumstances in our world and in our own lives. For us on the other side of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we can remember and reflect on the joy of our salvation, the many times and ways God has worked in our lives to bring provision, healing and a way out for us when we too were faced with the impossible. No matter what we currently face, our present joy can be found in remembering what God has done for us in our past as this psalm reminds us!

Pray and Expect God to Work in the Present
Psalm 126:4
⁴ Restore our fortunes,Lord, like streams in the Negev.
The psalmist here is now facing the devastation on their return to Jerusalem and saying a prayer, a petition to God to restore them! He is asking God for a spectacular restoration like the Negev region does when it gets rains. The Negev region is the desert region in the south of Israel and is an arid area that is very dry and parched. However, in certain seasons when there is rainfall in the Negev, it comes copiously and abundantly and what was once a dry riverbed is transformed into torrential streams and the whole area blossoms.  This is the vivid picture of restoration that we need to expect! It speaks of a sudden outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and blessing!

Psalm 126:4 (MSG)
And now, God, do it again—  bring rains to our drought-stricken lives.
In reading the Message translation, we are reminded that God can “do it again” and restore our present drought-stricken lives just like He did it in the past! We can put our trust and confidence in God because of the lavish promises that God has given us. The captives experienced the restoration of God. God helped the captives re-establish themselves in the land and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem overcoming much difficulty and discouragement.

Just like how the streams suddenly flowed through the parched Negev when the rain comes, so too the obstacles in our lives can be swept away even as God sends His Holy Spirit to do a mighty work in our life! So, there is Joy in intimacy with God in placing our prayer requests and in the anticipation of what He will do next! We can have joy as we expect a mighty restoration when we pray for the present difficulties we face.

Sow and Anticipate a great Harvest in the Future
Psalm 126:5-6
⁵ Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.
Often God works through a slower but very certain way in our lives – through the process of sowing and reaping. The pilgrims who sang this psalm knew that there were hardships and heartbreak in this life. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble but to take heart as He has overcome the world! In the journey of life, we too are pilgrims moving our way up to Heavenly Jerusalem, the city of our God where there will be no more tears. We need to persevere through these trials, and we don’t give up because it will be so worth it when we see our God face to face!

God has given us seeds to sow in this life – seeds of purpose and destiny in our lives, seeds of the Gospel, seeds of hope, seeds of prayer, seeds of love and kindness that we need to sow. Often when we sow these seeds, things may not be perfect in our lives and there may be many areas that we are waiting on God for a breakthrough. However, we need to persevere and sow in tears anyway as the promise from God is that we will reap a rich harvest that will fill us with much joy!

What are you facing today? Do you have joy in your life? No matter what you face, you can have joy today! Make a choice to live in joy by remembering what God has done for you in the past, praying and expecting God to work in the present and by anticipating a great harvest in the future as you sow today! Choose joy every time and live a glorious life in Christ!

(This devotion is adapted from a message I shared on Psalm 126 – Joy. You can watch the message in this full service video: 5PM Saturday Night // The Pursuit: Joy – YouTube.)