I love watching Bible school kids sing “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” (written by George William Cooke in 1925). Their joy bubbles over and spreads throughout the sanctuary when they are asked to repeatedly identify where their joy is found.
Joy. It’s a contagious fruit of the spirit.
Like Christian comedians Patsy Clairmont, Chonda Pierce, Mark Lowry, Anita Renfroe, Liz Curtis Higgs, they light up a room with their joy.
I’ve enjoyed seeing all of these spirit-filled people in person, and I’ve always come away savoring a little piece of their pie.
“A joyful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22
Eleanor Porter’s Pollyanna and Kate Wiggin’s Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm are two classic literary characters whose merry hearts do others good. Despite their difficult circumstances, these young girls see their glasses half full.
C. S. Lewis discovered joy serendipitously in his memoir Surprised by Joy. Despite his childhood losses and difficulties, he discovered the joy of the Lord and became a well-known apologist. Who among us can argue with C. S. Lewis?
“Real joy … jumps under ones ribs and tickles down one’s back and makes one forget meals and keeps one (delightedly) sleepless o’ nights.”—C. S. Lewis
While few of us experience joy without heartache, one makes us appreciate the other. The main character in Tamara Alexander’s A Note Yet Unsung says, “How could [heartache and joy] abide so closely to one another? And yet they did. Like dissonance and harmony. It took both to make the whole.”
In Rosie Greening’s book Cutie Fruities and the Fruits of the Spirit (illustrated by Lara Ede), Jessie Joy finds joy through music. “Jessie is so joyful! It’s a gift that never ends. Music is her favorite way to share this joy with friends.”
I agree with Jessie! Over the last few years I have experienced great joy while teaching piano lessons. I admit that some lessons have tried my patience and, I’m sure, the patience of my students. However, through dissonance we have found harmony. We have experienced the joy of making music together.
We can dwell on our mistakes, or we can delight in our accomplishments.
In today’s world we take many, many of our blessings for granted. Many of us never think twice about food, warmth, shelter, or other daily conveniences like water to flush our toilets. I never realized some people needed electricity to power the pump that provides water for the household. Recent ice/snow storms have made me a little ashamed of my lack of appreciation for these blessings.
In The Marvelous Mud House (written by April Graney and illustrated by Alida Massari), one American family learns to appreciate the joy in their lives when they travel a great distance to visit another family in Africa. This story takes Ben and his family on a journey to Kenya where they meet George and his mother, two people rich in joy but lacking in toys and games and vehicles.
George and his mother revel in their marvelous mud house with their scant provisions and their strong faith. When George longs to someday have the money to attend their local school, Mama George sings, “Let’s lift up our hands to the God who provides.”
“A lantern flickered on nine smiling faces, and the walls rang with laughter. With full bellies, the Smith children looked ’round in wonder. In the mud house, to be surrounded by joy and love was enough, much more than the accumulation of stuff.”
By witnessing the joy of the Lord in the family from Kenya, Ben and his family learn to fully understand the marvels of a joy-filled life. God uses them to help provide for George and answer his family’s prayers. Both families find joy.
If we open our hearts, we too can find joy in a song, in a laugh, in the everyday blessings that God provides, and in many unexpected places.
In the foreword to Shaunti Feldhahns’ devotional Find Joy, Alli Worthington writes, “God created us for joy. . . . The more we see God move in our lives, the more we experience the Source of all joy, and the more we experience His joy in full. And that changes us. We become grateful, forgiving, trusting, and confident in who He has created us to be.”
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”― Kahlil Gibran
Romans 15:13; Isaiah 55:12; Proverbs 17:22; Nehemiah 8:10
Great blog!