Joy is…

Piper’s devotional for today is about the failure of ‘stuff’ to make us happy. He gives stats showing the poor vs. the rich and how being rich does not do it. This is a common idea: money does not buy happiness.

How about defining the terms? Christians tend to define happiness differently than joy. Joy lasts and is not about circumstances. Happy is about circumstances. While I can be happy with what happens, difficult circumstances cannot rob me of joy.

Piper gets most of his biblical quotes from Proverbs which are general truths or common principles, not false, yet definitive in many cases. For instance, one says: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” (Proverbs 15:17) This does not mean that all dinners of herbs are better than a feast. Instead, this describes the contrast between love and hate using two kinds of meals.

That said, my experiences show a few different ‘proverbs’ about having stuff and being happy can also be true. For example, I know some very wealthy people who are miserable, but others with scads of money who know Jesus Christ and are joyful all the time. Their joy isn’t in money.

I also know poor people who struggle to make ends meet. Some of them are worried all the time and complain often about their lot in life, but others are happy with a contagious joy, no matter how little they have. These are the people who also know Jesus. Their joy is not about stuff.

My conclusion: joy is a fruit of being filled with the Holy Spirit and trusting God, no matter what my bank balance says. Joy is the delight of knowing the Lord and knowing He is in charge. He “owns the cattle on a thousand hills” and gives me all that I need, including contentment. Being happy with what I have is a by-product of joy. But if I let happiness depend on what I have rather than on the source of it, the Holy Spirit, then I will be anxious, wanting more, etc.

These verses contrast having stuff with not having stuff, and use that to illustrate the contrast between living my life as God directs (through His Spirit) and living my life according to my selfish desires. It isn’t about stuff, but about what I want vs. what God wants. It is not sinful to be rich unless I make riches my resource, my god. Here is the list from Proverbs:

Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. (Proverbs 16:8)
It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Proverbs 16:19)
Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. (Proverbs 17:1)
Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. (Proverbs 28:6)
Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. (Proverbs 14:21)
Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. (Proverbs 16:20)

These verse are illustrations. They could be written another way that is also true.

Great riches can be a blessing to many in the hands of someone who is righteous.
Those who have much are blessed to share it with those who are needy rather than with others who also have much.
A banquet filled with joyful noise is better than a silent meal where those present will not talk to each other.
A rich person who is known for honest integrity is better than a poor person who lies and steals to supply his meager needs.
Sadness comes from neglecting or hating the needy to wallow in all that I have.
All negative emotions and misery are mine when I am totally selfish instead of reading and heeding the will of God and trusting Him. 

 I could add what others say, like George MacDonald: “Happily for our blessedness, the joy of possession soon palls.” The sad part is thinking that having bigger, better, more, or the latest stuff will renew or restore that joy, but even if it does, that happiness  does not last. To suppose it will just keeps me in a self-centered cycle.  I have also noticed that some people have all they need and more, but still whine and complain as if they are terribly hard done by.

PRAY: Lord, You brought me into Your kingdom when I was very poor and let me see how You not only supplied all my needs but gave me that joyful contentment that outlasts and out-weighs any other source of delight. I’ve been poor and I’m also rich, not in mere money (who can take it with them to eternity), but in knowing that no matter what You give or withhold, joy never depends on the gifts but the Giver. Thank You.

Quick to Listen

 

ADHD manifests itself in several ways. For one of our grandchildren, it affected his hearing, or at least seemed to. When I told him to do something, I’d ask him to repeat what I said. He did, but it soon became obvious that he totally forgot it. I learned that when his eyes had a certain look, speaking was useless. If he was doing something dangerous, calling out was useless; I had to physically stop him. He was too preoccupied to hear.

MacArthur’s devotional for today is about that problem. God’s people can be slow of hearing . . .

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; (James 1:19)

If I am doing something sinful, God will speak to me about it and I’m to have that ‘quick to hear’ attitude toward His Word. Sometimes I don’t and He will take action to get my attention in other ways, but that old saying is true: God’s Word will keep me from sin or sin will keep me from God’s Word.

James wrote that I am to be joyful in trials because God uses them to help me grow. In those trials, and always, I’m to ask for wisdom which He freely gives. But what if I don’t listen? Experience and observation reveal that I will fall into temptation and sin, usually the temptation to feel sorry for myself, be angry or upset about my suffering and grumble in complaint, or to tell God what to do, instead of asking Him for a godly perspective on my circumstances.

Having a godly perspective means listening. What is God saying to me in those trials? I need to read His Word and listen to find out, but at this point, many Christians abandon the Word of God and are not quick to hear. Instead, we can become quick to speak our ‘I wants’ and quick to anger that our comfort has been disturbed.

As today’s devotional says, being “quick to hear” means I do not disregard or fight against God’s Word but give it my full attention. In trials or complex decisions, I haven’t a clue why I’m experiencing these things, but trusting God means realizing He uses all things for my good (Romans 8:28-29) and if I listen, He may simply tell me what is going on. I’m not to be like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, whom Jesus described as “foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.” (Luke 24:25)

The Word of God is the way God ministers to my need. Turning away from it because I don’t like what it says is foolishness, far worse than the problems of ADHD.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7–11)

As the next verses say, scripture helps me discern my errors and avoid sin that only gets me in trouble. Also, it is “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) Not reading it leaves me with only my fleshy notions and worldly ideas to guide me . . . and I will not experience the very best that Jesus promises to give me.

PRAY: Lord, I love the words of the psalmist who said: Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:97–104) Guard this attitude in me and keep me always hungering and listening to everything that You say.

READ: Psalm 19 considering the way the psalmist describes God’s Word and the benefits it brings. Then read Proverbs 3 and listen for more reasons to be quick to listen.