Even in the midst of great difficulties, you can still find and keep unshakeable joy by focusing your eyes on Jesus. Oh happy day!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a testimony about joy.
Because one of the most joyful people I know is a young gal with cerebral palsy; her name is Chantal. This girl has the most contagious smile, the most indomitable spirit, the most buoyant love of Jesus. Yet her life is anything but easy. Chantal is Canadian and last winter, the city bus she was on broke down in 20 degree weather. Everyone else on the bus was able to get off and scurry for shelter, but the mechanical lift on the bus had also broken down. Now, maybe if she was in a lighter manual wheelchair, Chantal could have been easily lifted down the steps, but she was sitting in her big, heavy power wheelchair. So, she had to sit hours in below freezing temperatures while mechanics tried to fix the lift. But even after all their efforts, the lift still wouldn’t operate. Finally (and it’s freezing cold) they called the fire department and Chantal was manhandled out of the bus.
Friends, this is the way this young disabled woman lives; this is ordinary for her, this is everyday life for Chantal. And my point is this – she keeps her joy, her joy in the Lord. Her smiles are hard fought for and hard won and that makes them all the more believable and all the more real. You see, the path to joy, I mean joy that’s unshakeable, joy that is content and satisfies even in the midst of great difficulties, that joy is full of pitfalls, valleys and steep climbs. But, hey, we’re not alone on that journey. That's the way it was for Jesus. Hebrews 12:2-3 says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”
Oh my goodness, through all the hardships Jesus kept focus on "the joy set before Him." He was able to endure His cross because He kept in mind the joy of reunion with His Father, the joy of triumph over sin, the joy of all His divine rights finally restored to Him, and perhaps most wonderful of all, the joy of being eternally surrounded by the very people for whom He bled and died. This is why Jesus Christ was able to endure the cross and scorn its shame. All for joy!
And it is very much the same for you and me, and Chantal. Friend, God shares His joy on His terms, and those terms call for you to, in some measure, suffer as His Son suffered when He walked on earth. Your path to joy will be full of pitfalls, but Christ has gone before you, securing for you and imparting to you His enabling power to suffer with Him. Jesus assures us in Matthew 5, "Blessed [or happy and joyful] are you when others revile you and persecute you... Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven." And exactly what is our reward at the end of all our hardships? Our reward will be to enjoy God with the same joy that Jesus has in His Father. Oh happy day!
You know, we Christians have no reason to be miserable, no reason to be pessimistic. There is no room for gloom and doom when you're a follower of Jesus Christ. If your heart is troubled today by pessimism or doubts, remember the truth contained in Hebrews 12, especially the part where it says, "Consider him who endured [that is Jesus]so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." That is the secret to finding joy. Consider Christ. So, thank you today for taking up your cross and following Him.
© Joni and Friends