Ask God For His Joy!

Written by: Danielle King

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Gas prices. Grocery totals. The rise in the risk of offending, and the fall in the value of an honest day’s work. Can you feel your joy being strained as you are reminded of just a few hot topics of the day? Each day and each headline tries to cast a shadow over the words “that your joy may be full”.

On days like these, how do we live out each one full of joy? As Christians, we know that God created roses. We know He made them fragrant. But how often do we stop to smell them? Do we ask God for the ability to rejoice in that fragrance? How often do we ponder the idea that He created all He created, does all that He does, is all that He is for His glory, first and foremost, but that the ability to share in His joy is the most fortunate by-product of His glory.

Is it sometimes a challenge to think of God as a happy God? Is it counterintuitive to believe God truly cares about our happiness here on Earth? Do you feel like caring about your own happiness is selfish, and that it is sinful to care about that when you’re called to “carry your cross”? You wouldn’t be alone. Many of us can become caught up in the race that we are justly instructed to run, but forget that our Heavenly Father has also inspired many verses in scripture that instructs us to have a smile on our faces as we run.

John Piper provides an analogy to help usher in the idea that it is not wrong to ask God for true joy in our hearts, but that He is honored and glorified when we seek our joy in Him. That running parallel to our lifelong duty to serve Him, it is also so good to ask God for joy without feeling guilty or unworthy because He is honored when we do so. I shall borrow and paraphrase his illustration:

Suppose my husband secretly rang our doorbell on our anniversary. I open the door and he is standing outside with flowers in hand. He says “I’m here for our date.” I smile and cheer “You are so sweet. Why do I deserve such a thing?” What if he responded with “I want to take you out because it is my duty. I am your husband, and I am supposed to serve you. I don’t want you to be angry with me for not doing enough for you, so let’s go.” I would be hard pressed to feel any kind of honor from my husband, and in fact, I would feel invaluable and inadequate for his happiness. Now suppose, instead, he replies “I want to take you out because I can’t think of anyone else I would rather be with tonight. Being with you brings me so much joy, that my commitment to you is the easiest and most pleasurable thing I could do in life.”

That would be the way he would honor me and our relationship. And I believe that is the way we can honor God as well. So ask the Lord to share His joy with you. Ask Him to give you, by His Spirit, the kind of joy that will seem out of place in this fallen world. Tell Him, daily, that you know He is the only one good and glorious enough to keep you smiling as you continue the good fight during your time here on Earth. Then His joy may be in you, your joy may be full, and you can give glory to God for it.