Scripture Reading: Neh. 8:10
According to Nehemiah 8:10, the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is not a matter of having strength because we have peace. His joy upholds us. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Paul commands us to always rejoice. How is this possible? How can we rejoice in difficulties, distresses, trouble, etc.? Where does this joy come from? We cannot manufacture it, because if we do not have it, we just do not have it! In Philippians 4:4 the apostle gives us the secret: "Rejoice in the Lord." Lord, Your joy is my strength! What is the joy of the Lord? How often did the Lord rejoice? The fact of the Lord rejoicing is only recorded once so it is easy for us to get the meaning. The Lord had apparently failed in His ministry to Tyre and Sidon (Luke 10:13-15). Verse 21 says, "In that hour He exulted in the Holy Spirit and said, I extol You, Father,...because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it has been well pleasing in Your sight." Jesus Christ rejoiced to do God's will; He rejoiced in God's will. The Lord's joy had nothing to do with circumstances. He said, "Father...it has been well pleasing" — it is Your will. There was no kicking against, no rebellious thought, no question of why He should go through all this. "Father,...it has been well pleasing in Your sight" is all. A man was visiting a school for the blind and asked the children why they were blind. There was an awful silence, and then one child replied with tears running down his face, "Father, it pleases Thee." We have to see that our Lord had a joy; it was the joy of God's will being done. Sometimes we have to rejoice in tears. The source of the Lord's joy on earth was not that He was successful or that the work was prosperous; He rejoiced only in the will of the Father.
It is not that we have to try to copy the Lord, but that the very joy that He had — the joy of the Lord — is ours. We can have something of the Lord imparted to us. We can have the joy of the Lord; His joy will be our strength.
The worst kind of life to live is a life of reactions in which we are always affected by persons or circumstances. This means that we are living by something which is outward, something which is not from the Lord. What does it mean to live a life of reactions? It means that when we speak and someone receives our message we are full of joy, but that we are just the opposite when our message is not received. We are affected by this and that; everything causes a reaction in us, and we are constantly up or down. This kind of life shows that our being is not in the Lord. Of course, we are still in the flesh and we do feel things, but these feelings must never be so strong that we live by them. We must cease from a life of reactions. But this can only happen when we live by the joy of the Lord. When we are tempted to be down, we should look up and say, "Has the Lord lost His joy today?" If He has, then we can be content to be joyless! None of us can have real strength by being cast down. If we praise the Lord, there is strength. As soon as we have lost our joy, we have lost our strength. This is the reason we are told to give thanks. We should say with a heart bent towards His will, "Lord, I do not mind. It has pleased You; therefore, it pleases me." We must live by something that is in Him. It is not a matter of our joy but of His joy; not a matter of our peace but of His peace. When we are feeling flat, the only thing that can raise us up is the joy of the Lord. We have to learn to live above our troubles.
To those who love God, everything works for good, and loving God means loving His will. Once one of God's children said, "Our hearts may be riven, but we are praising Thee for Thy will, for what Thou art." (Recorded by P.D.)
