Our Anchor in a Complicated Life
As the Christmas season approaches and I glance back over this last year I sense the weight of a complicated year in my spirit. Not unhappy…not discouraged…just a weight. Perhaps you have had a complicated year as well and are feeling the weight of your journey in the last year? I am observing at this stage in my journey that expanding responsibility and advancing years bring seasons of unexpected complexity, and in this complexity, there is an opportunity for joy to quietly slip out the back door of our lives. While I don’t think that joy has “left the building” in my life, I am aware of a desire in my spirit to rediscover a new season of joy in life and ministry.
How is your heart today? Would you be willing to pause for a moment and, as you read these words, glance around the interior of your heart and mind? Is joy still evident in your life or has it quietly slipped out of your life without you noticing? This is a question worth asking because scripture suggests to us that in the storms and calms of life, joy was intended by God as an anchor. Joy is a marker of the Holy Spirit at work in us (Galatians 5). Joy is key part of following the King (Romans 14). Joy is available in the darkest moments of our journey (James 1).
In the weeks since Thanksgiving I have been reading, thinking, and journaling about joy and I have made a couple of observations in my life. I am discovering that when I struggle to find, reclaim, or maintain God’s Joy in my life it is often for one of two reasons:
I lose sight of what the Bible means by “Joy”.
I confuse the choice of joy with the emotion of joy.
As I explored the first reason that joy can slip away from us, I began with a question.
How does the New Testament talk about Joy?
Agulliao – Jump for joy or exult with exceeding joy. (Luke 10:21 – Jesus while talking to His Father)
Agalliasis – exultation (Luke 1:44 – Mary & Elizabeth..baby lept for joy)
Euphrosune – joyfulness, gladness (Acts 2:28, Acts 14:17)
Khara – calm delight
Khairo – calmly happy (Romans 16:19)
Sugchairo – sympathize in gladness (Luke 1:58) – neighbors heard that the Lord had been kind to Mary and they “rejoiced” with her.
Five of these words for joy are used in one and sometimes two instances in the New Testament. In 51 other references to joy one word is predominant:
Khara – root word suggests calm delight as “joy”
We find this word in passages like:
Romans 14:17 (NIV)
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Romans 15:13 (NIV)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
James 1:2 (NIV)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials or many kinds.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The New Testament concept of joy does not focus on external giddiness but rather it is primarily dealing with a calm internal experience of delight that is an anchor for our emotions. Joy is a sense of contentment that does not require a silly grin, high energy, or hilarity. Khara is a joy that resides as soft smile in our heart and spreads a warm peace across all life’s complexity.
A second reason that we sometimes misplace joy in our lives is that:
We confuse the choice of joy with the emotion of Joy.
In the complicated seasons of 2022 there has been a scripture that has particularly irritated me, but I find myself drawn back time and time again.
James 1:2-4 (New Living Translation)
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
I have found over the years that I really wrestled with this “Joy in Trials” concept until I adjust my understanding of New Testament Joy, realizing that it is not exuberant giddiness in the face of trial…it is “Khara”….Calm Delight. As I understand biblical Joy (Calm Delight), it is made up of two vital components:
Contentment
Hope
Contentment:
Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Over the years Paul’s words to the Philippians have often puzzled me. This last year I have been rediscovering that I chose what I will focus upon, even in the complicated seasons of life. It is one of the devil’s greatest desires to steal my contentment…to shift my eyes from all that is good. If he succeeds…my “Calm Delight” begins to slip away.
Contentment is the result of a choice of focus.
Hope:
Romans 15:13 (NIV)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is in “overflowing hope” that my “Calm Delight” (my Joy) begins to take root and grow. I have observed that the loss of hope in my life is directly linked to a loss of confidence in my Lord. With confidence born of experience I can tell you that…
Hope is the result of a choice of trust.
When you chose joy (Calm Delight) made up of contentment & hope it effects your belief system and it:
Allows Joy to become an anchor in the worst of storms.
Does not preclude other emotions but helps to process them.
As the Christmas season arrives this year, I am praying that each of you will sense a sweet covering of calm delight that is rooted in hope and contentment. May you find that that your heart is filled with a soft smile because you are deeply loved by your Lord.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each of you. It is a privilege to be on this journey of growth with you.
Dan Scarrow
District Superintendent