"The Joy of the Lord is my strength"
I used to think that joy was something God gave us, which it is, but I used to think about it like this:
(Please forgive the image quality. I would use Flash if 1) I believed in buying expensive software or 2) I believed in getting pirated software, but I believe in neither.)
I used to think that God would give us a piece of His joy, but instead I think of it differently now. What if instead of giving us a piece, God gave us His own joy? I think God speaks to us where we are, but at the same time, isn't the ultimate goal fellowship with Him? Then, what's His becomes ours. I don't mean to say that we become God (which some people may try to convince you of), but instead, we share in what's God's. God doesn't simply give us a piece of His joy, but rather His joy becomes our joy in the same way that His Spirit becomes ours connecting us to The Vine, the same way that Christ's inheritance becomes ours and we are heirs as sons, or the same way that the Father God becomes our Father God.
In this way, our joy can become "full," not because God gives us a bigger piece, but because we get a bigger piece of God, so much so that what gives Him joy will give us joy. (The converse is true, too. Like the song verse that goes "break my heart for what breaks yours," when we have this sort of communion with God, we start to look at our sin differently, as well.) This changes the way we look at our struggles. Instead of looking at things like TS or moving to a new city or an overblown eczema problem, if I can see, even a little bit, how God is glorifying Himself through my "trials of various kinds," then I can find joy. Not because I'm happy about any particular aspect of suffering, but because I know that God has some sort of plan, and in His grace, He's included me in it. I know that somehow, my situation brings God joy, and that joy can be mine.
I don't think that this is particularly theological or biblical, but rather conceptual. It's the way I've come to understand things, but as you can see, it's not quite fully developed. What do you guys think?
(Please forgive the image quality. I would use Flash if 1) I believed in buying expensive software or 2) I believed in getting pirated software, but I believe in neither.)
I used to think that God would give us a piece of His joy, but instead I think of it differently now. What if instead of giving us a piece, God gave us His own joy? I think God speaks to us where we are, but at the same time, isn't the ultimate goal fellowship with Him? Then, what's His becomes ours. I don't mean to say that we become God (which some people may try to convince you of), but instead, we share in what's God's. God doesn't simply give us a piece of His joy, but rather His joy becomes our joy in the same way that His Spirit becomes ours connecting us to The Vine, the same way that Christ's inheritance becomes ours and we are heirs as sons, or the same way that the Father God becomes our Father God.
In this way, our joy can become "full," not because God gives us a bigger piece, but because we get a bigger piece of God, so much so that what gives Him joy will give us joy. (The converse is true, too. Like the song verse that goes "break my heart for what breaks yours," when we have this sort of communion with God, we start to look at our sin differently, as well.) This changes the way we look at our struggles. Instead of looking at things like TS or moving to a new city or an overblown eczema problem, if I can see, even a little bit, how God is glorifying Himself through my "trials of various kinds," then I can find joy. Not because I'm happy about any particular aspect of suffering, but because I know that God has some sort of plan, and in His grace, He's included me in it. I know that somehow, my situation brings God joy, and that joy can be mine.
I don't think that this is particularly theological or biblical, but rather conceptual. It's the way I've come to understand things, but as you can see, it's not quite fully developed. What do you guys think?
Posts
