We all face troubles. Some sorrows remain for years. Yet, inspite of life not turning out as we’d hoped, we must carry on. How do we remain glad in the midst of sadness? How do we keep the waves of circumstance from tossing us around and knocking us off our feet? Can trials actually increase our capacity for joy and give us something far more stable to center our lives around? What can infuse us with gladness to give our hearts daily courage?
For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3 NASB)
On a long weekend away at one of our favorite places, Wrightsville Beach, NC. It’s not only because of the turquoise surf and pristine sand, but also for how private and secluded it feels. When the kids were growing up, we enjoyed many summer weeks with their cousins at my brother in law’s beach house on the south end of the island. Today we’re at Shell Island Resort, close to where Mason Inlet, fed by the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, forms a sandy semi-circle at the northern end.
I read that I died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. I want to understand what this means. The thought of being hidden with Christ in God is extremely comforting. Hidden in His righteousness, His peace, His protection, His joy. I want to walk around clothed with Christ, fully understanding my spiritual death[1] and union with Him in every aspect of life. This makes me feel glad.
Lord, please show me more.
As a kid, my siblings, cousins and I would make up games around thick hedges we called the enchanted forest. Nestled on either side of our grandparent’s side porch, below towering circular white columns, were nicely groomed holly bushes with red berries. Whether we were playing hide and go seek or fleeing an approaching giant, we would slip in between them into an open area, completely hidden from view. Lost in our imaginations, we were safe and protected from any outside harm.
Hidden with Christ in God.
It’s taken me decades, but I think I’m beginning to get it. As believers in Jesus Christ, the only way we’re to live is in the flow of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been indwelt by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and our life is to be a life of continuing to recognize our spiritual death and depending on Christ’s life within.[1] Any other way of living is a grinding against the flow of the Rivers of Living Water within.
Abiding, walking in the Spirit, depending on Jesus are not just nice suggestions, not just good ideas, but vital to living life the way God intends. After all, Jesus tells us that apart from a life of remaining in Him as our nourishing vine, what we do is worth nothing. I’ve finally grown tired of wearying myself out doing things to please God in my own strength. It’s a sobering thought to hear what Paul says about our efforts to please God by our own feeble efforts:
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Galatians 2:21 NASB)
It’s a cool spring morning. The trees are blanketed in leaves and the birds are chirping. The breeze is crisp. As I look down toward the barn, where the hens are scratching, the winter rye is still emerald green.
Lee and I grew up together on the same street. On summer days we’d hop on our bikes and pedal down to Shaw’s pharmacy and spend our allowance on baseball cards and fire balls. We played countless basketball games at each other’s court, swam at the community pool and played on the same little league team.
We endured our parent’s divorce during our formative years, leaving us both on shaky ground. Neither of our father’s had the capacity to help us navigate manhood, so we did the best we could. We tried to live good lives, but eventually followed our friends into experimenting with smoking and drinking. Once this began, the tide took us deeper into drugs and other misdeeds.
Lee quit high school and joined the army. I went to college.
While in college, I pursued worldly pleasures I thought would bring me joy. I almost lost a scholarship my mother worked hard to secure. During fifty cent beer night, I was arrested for DUI. As I sat in jail, before my buddies bailed me out, I realized my life was on a downward trajectory. I knew I needed God, but didn’t know how to approach Him. My experience with ‘born again’ Christians seemed to be a life of joyless rules.
In the meantime, Lee was on a similar downward spiral. He landed in jail for drug possession in California. During the incident, he was introduced to Jesus Christ as a personal Savior, not a rule demanding kill joy. His life was truly changed and he couldn’t wait to tell me.
“Yea,” I replied.
“How do you know?”
“I believe in Jesus, like it says in the Bible,” I replied. “I haven’t killed anybody and I’ve lived a pretty good life.”
Believer. Have you really comprehended what it means that the Spirit of the Risen Lord Jesus lives inside of you? Let this fact wash over your heart and transform your life. It’s the most important fact about you and can empower every moment. Don’t ignore the Treasure Within anymore.
The Bible has commands which just don’t make common sense.
They’re out of this world. Commands which require us to take hold of something eternal in order to even comprehend, much more to obey them.
Like this one: Rejoice Always (I Thessalonians 5:16 NASB.)
Just found out a very good friend of mine has a mass on their chest. They go in for a biopsy on Thursday.
A marriage is in trouble. A job was lost. Relationships are broken. A long-time friend died of a brain tumor. Loved ones are sick. People are in deep emotional pain.
Yet, we’re to rejoice always. Rejoice what? Certainly not our circumstances.
Then what do we rejoice?
I have a friend who’s been through a host of medical problems. They’ve been through a procedure which left them with an irritating, painful reminder of their difficulties. Sometimes the symptoms can cause isolation and loneliness. They’re trying to fight, but sometimes the pain is overwhelmingly discouraging. Physical and emotional pain can rule the day. And who can blame them?
My friend’s situation is only one of countless examples of life not turning out as we’ve planned. How do we make sure our happiness is not anchored to something we can lose?
Have you ever been so into watching a movie or TV series you forgot about the ‘real world’ for a while? I suppose that’s part of the appeal. For a period of time we can get so lost in what’s happening on the other side of a screen, we forget about the duties and challenges which we’ll face when we’re done. Or maybe we’ll watch another episode.
In his book, A Different Kind of Happiness, Larry Crabb awakens us to the fact that we’re all part of an eternal reality which supersedes what goes on before our eyes. This larger story, orchestrated by God, will not be thwarted. Crabb calls us to stop focusing on the temporary world and our endless pursuit of happiness. He calls this kind of circumstantial happiness – second thing happiness.
Rather he urges us to travel the narrow road of seeking what he calls first thing happiness or joy. First thing happiness is unaffected by how our lives are going because it flows from God’s larger story. He says loving like Jesus is what keeps us in the flow of God’s greater purposes.
“Loving like Jesus, self-sacrificially and not self protectively, produces first thing happiness.”
A Call to Joy
When Nehemiah heard the people weeping, he said to them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”
Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
David had written years before, “In Your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11b).
In this time of grieving, of weeping, of longing for God, the people needed to be encouraged. Their hearts needed to be infused with the joy of the Lord which grows with His nearness.
What is Joy?
How can the Joy of the Lord be our strength?
We read God’s lovingkindness is better than life. But what about when we fail and when people hurt us? What about when we feel unlovable and rejected? How do we experience God’s great love when life isn’t going so well?
