Endless Joy.

I cannot seem to get the word joy out of my head. There is something very important that we have to know about joy as followers of Jesus; happiness is not joy. Happiness is something that we feel as a result of the circumstances we face. It is temporary. Joy, on the other hand, is a state of being. Joy isn’t based on a circumstance, it’s based on Christ. Because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we have a legitimate reason to be joyful with every fiber of our being every day. Our ultimate reason for joy: eternity in heaven with our father.Philippians 4:4“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”1 Thessalonians 5:16“Rejoice always”Rejoice in the Lord always. Always. It doesn't say rejoice when you get an A on your paper, or when you get asked out, or when you score the winning goal. This verse is saying yes, rejoice then, but also rejoice when you fail your test, or when you get in a fight with your best friend, or when a family member passes away. Don’t get me wrong here, these things are terrible, and it's perfectly ok to feel sad about them happening, but that is exactly why happiness is not enough. If we base our faith on being happy with the season of life we are in, we aren’t going to have a firm foundation when our seasons change, when our happiness fades away. Happiness isn’t a bad thing; we can be happy when we are joyful, but if we are only happy, we won’t have anything to hold onto when we find ourselves deep in dark valleys of trial or temptation or addiction or grief or sickness. We need joy because joy is the source of our hope. Pain is inevitable on Earth, but we don’t have to suffer.Friends, there is reason to rejoice even in our darkest seasons of life. Trust me, this isn't easy, and I in no way have mastered this, but this is the life that God is calling us to live. We will have pain, we will have doubts, we will have hardship, but we will have joy because we have the hope of eternity because of Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that when bad things happen, life should be all rainbows and butterflies. I’m saying that if we lean into the Joy we have in our Father, we can see with clearer eyes our God working everything in our lives together for good. John 16:22“Your hearts will rejoice and no one will take away your joy from you.”The world never gave you joy, so it cannot take it away from you. Joy comes from the Lord! Please don't let the world take your happiness from you and be left with nothing else. There is hope and that hope is Jesus, and because of that hope we can have joy always. One day or one week or one year or one hundred years of pain on Earth are nothing in comparison to the glory that shall be revealed to us in heaven. It’s like one tiny flicker in the limitless galaxies of stars in space.Psalm 16:11“In your presence there is abundant joy”God doesn’t want you to be consumed by pain. He wants you to look to him. Over and over and over in the Bible the word joy or rejoice appears. He's trying to tell us something! We just have to really believe it and let it mold our hearts. People around you may think you're crazy for exerting so much joy, but let them! Let them see that you are different than the world! Let them see that living a life with Jesus gives you hope even when your world is crumbling! Let them see that God has a better plan that proclaims happiness isn't enough for his children! He doesn’t want us to suffer. He wants us to hold onto this joy that he has given us by Jesus Christ.Your happiness might be taken away, but your joy can never be. Hold onto it. Cling to it. Rest in it.Find hope in it.Let it radiate so all can know the name of Jesus.words by Samantha Burton and photo by Sarah Mohan