This is the third in a series of blog posts examining a key to personally dealing with crises. Included in this series will be selected excerpts taken from my book,
The Power and Promises of THE NAME Jesus
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Maintaining Peace, Joy and Love in the Midst of Crises
Part 3 – Joy in the Midst of Adversity
Last week in this continuing series on Peace, Joy and Love in the Midst of Crises, we examined Peace in the Midst of Crisis. This week, as we continue this current series of blog posts, let’s consider an illustration of the concept of joy:
George was ecstatic. “I can’t believe it!” He exclaimed laughing. “I can’t believe it!” Then he burst into an almost uncontrollable laughter until his cheeks and sides ached.
“Yes. Mr. George C. Morrison, you’d better believe it.” The announcer intoned in that deep baritone professional voice. “You have just been confirmed as the grand prize winner in our ten million dollar sweepstakes! Mr. George C. Morrison, of Wakeville , Colorado
Now wouldn’t you say this is a perfect picture of joy and happiness? No? Perhaps we should consider another example:
“Six.” The jailer counted as he again struck his prisoner’s bare back. “Seven.” The prisoner grimaced with pain at each stroke of the jailer’s whipping rod. “Eight.” The...
“Whoa. Wait a minute” you may be thinking. “This is supposed to be an illustration about joy. You must have forgotten what you were writing about. Physical abuse is certainly not joyful.”
No, I didn’t forget. Just hang in there and let me finish, okay. Now where was I? Oh yes...
“Eight.” The jailer continued.
The prisoner began praising the Lord. “Praise Jehovah” he said looking upward. “Lord Jesus, I count it a privilege to suffer for your name’s sake.”
“Nine.”
“The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
“Ten.”
The beating was finally finished. Ten lashes with the rod was the court-ordered sentence to be followed by shackles and incarceration. The jailer then proceeded to carry out the rest of the sentence. He took Paul into the jail and chained him securely next to Silas who had received the same punishment.
Their crime was merely preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their mission was to show people how they could have the presence of Jesus in their own hearts and lives—the presence of the living God which brings true peace, joy and love within.
As Paul and Silas sat chained in that cell, they were anything but comfortable. The open sores on their backs ached. The shackles around their wrists and ankles were made of cold, hard, heavy metal. The jail itself was dark, damp and drafty. Such were the external conditions. However, Paul and Silas had something within them which could not be touched by external things. So full of the presence of the Lord were they, that they began to rejoice and sing praises (Based on Acts 16:16-34).
That is incredible! How could they still have joy after having been so severely and unjustly mistreated? The answer to this question lies in the fact that true joy, as true peace, is appropriated only by the presence of the Lord. It may reside within us whether or not we may be enjoying the temporal pleasures and comforts of life.
This point may further be illustrated by examining the meanings of the words happiness and joy. Joy may be defined as pleasure or delight resulting from “exultation of spirit” (OED).[1]
The word happiness comes from the same root as words like happenstance or haphazard. It has to do with chance or luck (OED).[2] Happiness is derived from conditions or things which happen to come to us or surround us, that bring us a sense of pleasure or well being. On the other hand, the joy of the Lord (as we have already alluded to) is just the opposite. It is the by-product of the presence of Jesus that resides within our spirit.
Mr. George C. Morrison in our first story was no doubt the recipient of a certain degree of good fortune—alright, a huge degree of good fortune. How long he might retain that happiness, of course, would depend on a number of other factors in the life of Mr. George C. Morrison. But the “joy” he received from the moment was derived from “good luck” and was selfish in nature. That is to say, it originated from something outside of himself coming to him. If the depth of one’s feeling of pleasure and satisfaction is dependent only on external stimuli, then if you were to take away the external benefit, happiness would depart with it.
Paul and Silas, in our second story, certainly did not enjoy good luck in their situation. Yet, the joy within them remained and even flowed out to others. That is the essential difference. Joy flows in the opposite direction from happiness. It originates from within and flows outward. It is not selfish in nature. Read the whole story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:16-34. The joy they possessed involved more than just the rejoicing within their own hearts. It flowed out of them as a witness to the other prisoners in the jail and eventually resulted in more followers. The jailer and his entire family received their message and became followers of Christ.
The apostle Paul was a man of singular purpose—to share the Gospel and build Christ’s Church. He had a deep understanding of suffering and recognized it as another means to reach the lost. Don Howell notes, “Paul expounds a theology of suffering that includes three overlapping dimensions of significance. First, his sufferings are endured for the edification of the church, the body of Christ… Secondly, the suffering of the apostle, and by extension that of the churches, authenticates their identification with Jesus, the suffering Servant… Third, the apostles sufferings are marks of authentication as a true servant of Christ” (280-281).[3] The apostle Paul was a model to his followers of not only how to endure crises, but of how to flourish through hardship and suffering. He taught his followers to expect hardship and, through Christ’s presence within them, to live above crises.
Nehemiah 8:10 encourages, “...Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (NKJV Bible). The apostle Peter, no doubt speaking from experience, states, “...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (NIV Bible, 1 Peter 1:6-9). “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (NIV Bible, I Peter 4:12-13).
Joy is not derived by the nice things that happen to you, but by the presence of the Lord flowing out of you. What a wonderful benefit the joy of the Lord can bring to healthy leadership.
(to be continued)
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NOTE: Please visit this blog site each week (a new blog is posted every Monday). This blog entry is part 3 of a series of blog posts examining the subject of Peace, Joy and Love in the Midst of Crises. Part 1 was posted on 2017-06-05 and Part 2 was posted on 2017-06-12.
Next week: Part 4 - “Love In the Midst of Hatred.”
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