Real Joy is not based on Circumstance

 

Last year was a very trying and difficult time for us at House of Joy Church. But every time the devil raised his ugly head and seemingly won another battle, God would infused us with great joy. He would assure us we were following Him and that everything would be all right.

After the year was over and things settled down, I told Brother Edd Higgins, our treasurer, I was not sure I wanted to go on to the great crowds and finances that have been prophesied for our church. I told him I did not want to loose the special joy the Lord had given us.

A few weeks ago, God spoke a word into my Spirit. “Real joy must come in the trial. Joy based upon circumstance will dissipate as soon as the circumstances change.”

Today I want to look at this truth in the Bible. First we will look at a couple of scriptures and then we will look at some Bible stories.

Psalm 30:5 says: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”   Psalm  30:11 says: “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;”

            These scriptures speak of joy coming in the midst of turmoil. They do not suggest any of the circumstances have necessarily changed but the joy that comes changes us and changes our attitude toward the circumstances. When this happens, we know it is God. We know it is His joy. We know that the joy will last because we have received it in the midst of trouble.

            In Old Testament story of Gideon we find God bringing joy and faith in the midst of the trial. Gideon obeyed all God told him to do but was still full of anxiety about the coming battle with the Midianites. Just before the battle, God told Gideon to go down to the Midianite camp. Here is what happened when he got to the camp.

 

Judges 7: ¹³And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

¹⁴Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”

¹⁵And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

 

            After hearing the dream and interpretation, Gideon must have felt an exhilarating joy. He worshiped and then in confidence led his small army into battle and won.

      Another story that shows God coming in the midst to the trial and bringing joy is found in the story of the 3 Hebrew boys who refused to bow to an idol erected by the King of Babylon. When the king threatened them with death in a fiery furnace the boys were bold in their reply. They said,

 

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

           

The king was enraged at their statement. He had the furnace heated seven times hotter and had the boys bound and thrown into the fire. The flames killed the soldiers when they threw the boys into the fire. Suddenly, the astonished king cried out

 

(Over)

“Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  ²⁵“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the^£ Son of God.”

²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. ²⁷And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

           

Notice when the Son of God came. He came while the boys were in the fire. When we are in our fiery trial, we are eligible for God to come to us. When He comes, He brings real joy.

            Are you in a fiery trial today? Look for God to come to you in the midst of your trial. When He comes He will bring a joy that is indescribable. It will supercede the trial. The trial will fade into the background as the joy wells up inside of you. You will suddenly know that everything will be OK. You will know that your God has you in His hand and that is all that matters.

            If you are looking for your joy to come in some circumstance, you are looking for the wrong thing. That joy will be a fleeting joy and will not last long. Soon you will be back in the doldrums of sadness and despair. But, if you receive your joy in the midst of trial, you can be sure it will be a lasting joy.

            Remember the story of the disciples in the storm and Jesus walking across the water to save them. If we could be transported back in time and be on the boat with the disciples we would have encouraged them to look for Jesus. We might have said, “Fellows, you need not be afraid. Jesus will soon be here. He is walking on the water to come to you now.”

            I am sure the disciples would never have believed that story but that is what I am saying to you. Jesus will come to you in your problem. He will give you joy in the midst of your storm. That joy will be a special joy for you the rest of your life because it is real and not based upon circumstance.

            So, don’t be moaning and complaining about your circumstance. See it as an opportunity for receiving real joy.