Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Joy is a life vest

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JoyJoy is like a life vest. A life vest does not keep you out of the waves, but keeps the waves from overwhelming you.

Happiness depends on avoiding a difficulty, but joy is deeper than happiness. One can infer from the word “happy” that it is dependent upon circumstances for the good feeling. The word happenstance comes from the same root. Happiness depends on what happens to us. So, to be happy, I need life to go well right now.

Joy, on the other hand, comes from a long-term view and an understanding that it all comes out well in the end. This is why Paul, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, can write:

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

What I’m learning is that joy does not keep you from the trial, but it can sustain you through the trial.

For the Christian, joy is not rooted in some vague, self-generated sense of well being. Joy is rooted in the character of God and an understanding that Jesus has made a provision for us. Jesus makes a way through the trial, reminding us that it is God  who is at work “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

This is not a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps self-will, nor is it a Pollyanna-like refusal to take the trial seriously. Joy is realistic about the difficulty and its consequences. but not willing to let the difficulty have the last say.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be spared from a trial; only a masochist would actually want to suffer. But there is everything right with asking God to show you how to have joy in the midst of the difficulty.

Why ask God for this? The best reason is that Paul tells us that joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. Joy is something that God wants to produce in us. When we pray to receive joy, we are asking for something that we know is according to God’s will.

Because we are broken people living in a broken world, there are only three categories of people:

  1. Those who have come out of a trial
  2. Those that are in a trial
  3. Those are moving into a trial

So, in the likely event of a water landing . . . put on joy as your life vest to keep you above the waves.

 

More than you can handle

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I would like to comment on one of the phrases that is found in the article highlighted in this Tweet:

On the surface, it seems correct to say that “God will not give you more than you can handle.” Paul does tell us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to escape the situation. But it is a huge jump to infer from this that God will not allow you to encounter situations that you cannot handle.

By Pete Sandbach from Manchester, UK (Weight of the world) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Pete Sandbach from Manchester, UK (Weight of the world) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
On the contrary, I would go so far as to say that God will certainly give you more than you can handle. The point is that until we come to the end of our own abilities, we cannot learn to trust God for the outcome. All of the great heroes of the Bible were put in difficult situations. Daniel, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah and Paul all come to mind. Their faith was tested and strengthened by the difficulties that they faced.

Furthermore, anyone who is in any relationship will have more than they can handle. Unless you are a complete narcissist and ignore the people around you, relationships will make you aware of situations that are beyond your control.

We all bring dysfunction with us when we interact with friends, family and acquaintances. I have limited control over my own dysfunction and no control over yours. Relationships are messy and are sometimes more than we can handle. Yet, we are called to be in them and how we function in relationship is to be an evidence to the world that God is working in our lives. Jesus said that the mark of the church is to be love (John 13:35).

This platitude also ignores the truth that there are evil people in the world who get their kicks from hurting others. Belief in Jesus doesn’t prevent one from encountering evil. Or there are those who feel the need to force their own beliefs on others. Just ask Christians under Communist governments or in Islamic States about how much control they have over their circumstances.

We must not forget, however, that Jesus promises to be with us through any ordeal that we encounter. He said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). God can give us the grace to bear up under the trial, but that grace has got to be a work of God to be effective.

In the face of real danger, persecution or any other trial that threatens to overwhelm me, I don’t need a platitude to shore up my inner strength. I need a Savior to come beside me and lend me his strength.

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