Joy Story

Our Vacation Bible School for church has been occupying a lot of my time and thought right now. My sister and I co-direct the program so we've been plenty busy. I love VBS. I love hearing the kids sing songs, watching them play games, seeing the crafts they've made - to me it's a joyful time in itself. But the best part about VBS is teaching the kids about the Bible. This year our focus is on joy and in our world today where people pursue pleasure at all costs, I think it's important for our kids to distinguish between happiness and joy.

Happiness is fleeting, it's circumstantial. When I'm relaxing by the pool, that's happiness. Or when I see my children do something wonderful, that's happiness. When my husband surprises me with a gift that I've been wanting, that's happiness. All those things make me happy in themselves, but take all of it away. Am I happy in the every day toils of life? Am I happy when my kids can't find their shoes and we're ten minutes late - again? Am I happy when my husband doesn't pick up on those clever little hints that I've been leaving for him? Probably not. I'm probably more tired, frustrated, angry, or disappointed. Happiness is surface level emotion.

Joy is deeper, long lasting. It's internal, not based on what's going on around us. Even while I'm doing my daily routine, I can have joy. When my kids are frustrating me, I can still have joy. When I'm disappointed, I can still have joy. When health fails, there can be joy. When loved ones pass away, there an be joy. When life seems to fall apart, there can be joy.

God created us for joy - both for His own joy and for us to experience joy. Sin obviously messed with joy, but it couldn't extinguish it completely. It still gives God joy when a new name is written in the Book of Life. It gives Him joy when a prodigal son returns. It gives Him joy to welcome His children home to Heaven. On earth, His Spirit can give us joy - it's part of the fruit of the Spirit! We can be identified as believers - unique and separate from the world - when we exhibit a joy that does not come from ourselves, but from God.

We can choose joy. Sometimes God sets something wonderful in front of us, but it looks scary and so we choose not to take it. Yet if we had gone forward, we would have experienced joy that we never even knew. The Children of Israel were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, but it looked too hard and they chose not to go in. Instead of receiving the joy from God's gift to them, they had to wander the wilderness for forty years. We can do the same thing. God will set something before us, but we choose not to follow Him and then we suffer the consequences. We can also choose to have joy in difficult situations. Paul and Silas were beaten and in prison and yet were able to sing. That's joy.

Sometimes it seems like the cost of joy is too much. The rich young ruler turned away from Jesus, because the cost was too great for him. Yet if he had followed, he would have experienced true joy that he would never find in his possessions. God may call us to give more than we feel like we can afford. He may call us to give of our time, or serve someone that we find difficult. Or maybe He takes us away from a ministry that we love to move us to another area of service. It may seem like the price is too high, but if we relinquish it to Him, we will see how much more He can give in return.

The best part about joy, is that joy is found in grace. When Jesus came and sacrificed His life for our own, He bridged the gap between God and man. Now we can have access to God, we h ave the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we have life eternal - if we believe in Jesus. Romans 10:9-10 says, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." That is something to be joyful about.

Because of that, there is also joy to come. Someday we will be reunited with God. Pain, sickness, death will be no more. We will dwell in a place of beauty and be face to face with the One who created us for joy in the first place. Only then will we truly understand what true joy is. Joy on this earth is impossible without God, but joy will take on a whole new meaning when we finally enter His presence.

This is what we get to teach our children. That life is more that our circumstances. That joy is found even in the most difficult times. That God wants us to experience joy to its fullest. Getting to teach our children about these things - now that gives me joy.