Can We Choose Joy?
“The sword glitters not because the swordsman set out to make it glitter but because he is fighting for his life and therefore moving it very quickly.” - C. S. Lewis, Surprised By Joy
I cannot find it anywhere in the Bible. The phrase “choose joy.” Yet, I was so sure that exact phrase was a verse because of how many times I heard it growing up in youth group settings… as if it it was something you could reach out and grab. Choosing something makes it sound obvious and easy. Like picking an apple off a tree.
I’m sure the idea of choosing joy is referring to James 1 when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Peter and Paul says similar things. The writers of the New Testament point us continually to the bigger reality of the kingdom of God at hand, urging us to keep the faith amidst adversity and persecution. These men certainly had a deep understanding of joy, but I don’t think it was as simple as choosing it. I think it is more like…they chose a path, and then joy chose them.
I’ve been thinking, journaling, and reading a lot about joy in the past few months. Mainly because I’d like more of it. Not only because my soul craves it, but because I sense my children and my husband need me to have more of it too. But joy is not something to obtain by seeking joy itself, or “chasing it” as some of those dreamy vagabond instagram influencers post about. There are a lot of false notions about joy out there… tastes of it being confused for the real thing.
I do think joy comes in a lot of forms: in nature, in other people, in new experiences, in laughter with friends. But these don’t seem to compare to what James and Peter and Paul meant when they spoke of joy in the face of trials, persecution, and prison. They are signposts toward something deeper. There’s something about this deeper joy that is more complicated, not something you could simply “choose” on hard days.
Here are some of my evolving thoughts on joy…
Joy. The thing our souls crave but cannot seem to attain. Like a boat sailing peacefully in the moonlight. And yet…we are not on that boat, but swimming frantically behind it, unable to catch up.
Joy is something that catches us… in the face of a newborn child, in the steady eyes of a spouse you’ve gone to the depths and back with, in the sweet revelation of our Savior’s love. It is safe, warm, and settled.
Joy is something that rises up from within. It’s the only thing that can wash over sorrow, and yet it is, itself, often born in sorrow.
It comes when we least expect it. It’s the boat that catches you. It covers. It heals. A taste of heaven.
It is not something we choose in a moment, but live over a lifetime. It’s a world we learn to inhabit, a path we learn to walk.
Joy is not a delicious apple we can pick off a tree, but a wild, rushing river we can jump into and let it carry us through many seasons.
Whether life is breezy or marked by sorrow, you can still jump in. Let it take you. Let it wash over you. Learn to swim in it.
There is joy to be found in the reality that we cannot control the future, yet our future is secure. There is One who is before us, behind us, and beside us.
We can choose God. He is joy. He is the rushing river who cleanses, heals, and takes us where He sees fit. He is wild, exhilarating, fun, and adventurous.
Joy is not happiness. It’s more than that. Joy is trust. It transcends our circumstances. It is a gift that pours out as we choose Him.
Joy is not the thing to be chased, He is. But the beautiful thing is…we don’t have to chase Him. He chases us… and invites us to jump into the river. That is our choice… to choose the path God has set before us, come what may.
Just like the sword in the opening quote, we can’t manufacture the deep beauty of joy. The sword might be beautiful on its own, but it glitters because it is being used for the purpose in which it was made. All the wonderful, momentary joys of this life are meant to point us toward the bigger, deeper reality of Joy, Himself.
If we only chase these momentary joys, we will be tasting but never drinking… never feeling the wild rush of water all around us as we trust in the Creator of everything beautiful and good in this world.
May we be a people who seek God over His benefits…not mistaking that which is meant to point us to heaven as heaven itself. May we trust Him so heartily, that the river which once felt unruly, unsafe, and wild becomes exhilarating and delightful… the only way to live.
The choice we have each day is much deeper than choosing joy. It’s choosing to trust in God who is the Creator of all that is good, beautiful, and true… in every stage and season of life. It’s receiving the joys of life along with the sorrows. Then, over time, our eyes can see a bigger view of His kingdom.
And perhaps one day we will look down and see that the grass which once felt like needles now bends under our feet. We are more whole… transformed into who we were made to be. We see where we are headed and smile. The kingdom of God is ahead and here, now.
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” -Psalm 46:4-5