Article October 6, 2014 Issue

The significance of joy

Ruth Geyer

Joy is often underrated in healing, and yet a quiet joy is a freeing agent. Many people think of joy as just a happy feeling, but joy is bigger and deeper. Discussing this, one friend defined joy as satisfaction, and another said it’s peace and harmony.

Zephaniah 3:17 assures, “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Reduce this poetic verse to the subject and verbs: God will save, rejoice, rest, and joy. “Rejoice” and “joy” represent here a big percentage of God’s activity. As being joyous is an activity of God, we must reflect active joy as the result of being made in God’s image. According to Zephaniah, God joys over us with singing, so joy is an undergirding melody of well-being. There simply is no burden here. A sense of affliction isn’t God’s song. As we cling to God’s allness, burdens grow dim.

We often think we should “soldier on” through a challenge, and that’s not wrong, but praying for a cure without changing consciousness does not usher in healing. Strive to learn more about God “in the midst of thee” and stand with joy. Soldiering through without being conscious of God at work is a little like the elder son in the biblical parable. After the prodigal son returns, the father throws him a party. The elder son is resentful and says, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.” The father replies, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine” (Luke 15:29–31).

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