Joy” is a short word that nevertheless encompasses a rich trove of experiences. Joy activates our whole being. We start glowing from the inside, seeing our daily and future affairs under a new, hopeful light.
Inner joy downplays the dark clouds to focus instead on the blessings of rain. The exhaustion after a day of hard work is valued as a prize to well-wrought effort as we anticipate reinvigorating rest. In my job joy is listening to my young speech therapy patients as they mumble their first, struggling words. In my family life it is that which helps me not to focus on my son’s departure to college but to look forward to our next family reunion.
Joy is a gift that comes only from the God of hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13). I am filled with joy after personal prayer, when I know that I’ve been listened to. It comes with the realization that despite our unsettled world, all things are working according to His plan.
Above all, joy is what I feel when I remember that “for yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). Joy is the certainty that very soon I will get lost in God’s everlasting embrace.
