Settle Into Joy

I happened to glance out the window as I walked into my room and there it was: a radiant sunset splashing across the evening sky with magenta and violet. I couldn’t help myself. I poked my head into the living room and blurted out, “Courtney, the sunset is amazing tonight! I have to go out and see it!” I ran to the back door, flung it open and dashed out onto the deck, out the gate and onto the back stairs. I felt I could almost touch it in all its deep, mysterious beauty. A rich, gorgeous sunset that graced the sky like a handful of jewels. It was so lovely that all I could do was gaze in awe and wonder at God’s handiwork. Then, I felt it, fleeting and deep but unmistakable – joy.

Joy. It feels like an elusive concept sometimes. Like the mist that rises from the trees in the morning and disappears when the hot sun beats down and the rough winds blow. I’ve struggled a lot with what joy is supposed to look like in the life of a Christ Follower. Since I was little, I’ve always heard the verses that say “rejoice in the Lord always,” and, “the Joy of the Lord will be your strength,” and “rejoice when you encounter various trials.” But what is that supposed to look like? How does that play out when things are hard, or weird or confusing in life and you’re struggling just to put one foot in front of the other every day?

Sometimes I’ve been frustrated with these verses. I’ve often felt that they were like unsolvable riddles or some sort of sage advice for the spiritual elite who had somehow “arrived” at some higher plane of learning or maturity. But then it hit me – like the inscription on the doors of Moria in the Lord of the Rings. The answer is simple. The answer came to me in that fleeting moment of gazing at the sunset. The thing that brought me joy was not the beauty and loveliness of the sunset itself. It was the delight I felt in the God of the universe that could make such beauty and that he would share that beauty with me.

Rejoice in the LORD. The joy of the LORD is my strength. Do you see it? The Lord is the joy.  When I touch His heart, His presence, I feel the unmistakable tingle of His joy. When I am struck speechless by the beauty He creates, and that points to Him, I feel the deep thrum of His joy in my bones. The joy is always there. Its only fleeting because I get distracted, worried and overwhelmed with the things in my every day. I have my eyes on everyone and everything except for my true source of joy.

 Psalm 16:11 says that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. Wow. I can be full of joy in His presence. Just being with Him, at his right hand, is a source of constant pleasure. But it’s only when I abide in His presence will I feel that joy. He makes it available all of the time because He is available all of the time.  

So, this week, my motto will be the same as one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer who said, “I don’t want to be robbed of even one of God’s riches by not taking time to let Him invade my life. By not listening to what He is telling me. By allowing the routine, pressing matters of my minutes to bankrupt me of time for the most exciting, most fulfilling relationship in life.” I pray this week both you and I take time to step into God’s presence and to settle into joy every day.