Today I want to talk a little bit about the idea behind joy. And I mean being joyful, being hopeful, even being positive. We all know people in our lives who are positive right? Just a pleasure to be around. And we also know people who might complain more, and be negative.
And I want to start by asking a simple, but well known question. If I had a glass of water in front of me, and half of the cup had water in it, would you say it is half full, or is it half empty? That well known phrase, is the cup half full, or is it half empty? Do you see things in a positive way, or do you see it negatively? But the thing is, both answers are not wrong. You have the full freedom to choose which one you want to see.
In the same way we can choose how we see that cup, we can choose where we get joy and hope from. Having joy is our choice. Having negative thoughts and the opposite of joy, is also a choice. And in this sermon I want to look into a few examples of how we can choose joy, and find it in the proper place, in Jesus Christ. Lets look at James to see what I mean specifically:
James 1:2-3 “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.”
Here James is saying that when we have hard times in life, when we have trials, consider it joy. Notice that first word, consider. James isn’t saying that it is joy, or it isn’t joy. But we consider, we in our own hearts and minds take it as joy. James is saying that we make the choice here!
How often in our lives have we come across tough times, difficult moments, and we just sometimes feel down, right? Just sometimes when things just aren’t going your way, problem after problem, it sometimes puts you down right? There were times in my own life that, being fully honest, I turned into a negative person. Things just werent going my way. One problem after another, and I would complain to myself, I'd complain to others. I’d have self-pity thinking woe is me, It's so bad for me. Negative negative negative!
But at this time in my life when I didn’t really have true joy in the Lord, I just didn’t realize that even during tough times, I had everything I needed to choose joy and hope in God. It wasn’t about the actual problems I was going through. It was how I was looking at those problems. It’s that I was making the wrong choice in what I was trying to get hope and joy from. Having that deep level of joy and hope only comes from the Lord. And we have all that we need in front of us to find that joy. We just have to study the word for it, and choose it!
Now in this sermon I want to look at a specific person who gives great examples on how to choose joy & hope regardless of our circumstances, and it’s Apostle Paul!. And looking through the lens of Apostle Pauls life, I want to answer the question of “how do we find joy in Christ, regardless of our circumstances?”
I want to look at two specific points in Apostle Pauls ministry that he makes the deliberate choice to choose joy in Christ through everything. And in these two areas, two things become clear on how Apostle Paul chooses joy in Christ. He i) sets his focus, and ii) fixes his expectations. And I want us to remember these two points, focus on Christ, and fixing expectations.
If we look later in Apostle Pauls life, we get to the point where he is in prison in Rome. He’s already been through such difficulty in his ministry, and he's at the point where he's in prison writing out letters to churches. And one of them was to the Phillipians. And if we look in chapter 1:
Phillipians 1:12-18 “
12Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.14And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.16The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”
Just look at how positive and joyful Apostle Paul constantly is. He’s in prison, chained, and still he is writing to a different church to calm THEM down. And he’s testifying that me being chained here spread the gospel to the whole guard and others. When we read this, where is Paul focusing? What is he always pointing to? It’s Christ! I mean this is a man who was beaten, stoned, imprisoned multiple times! And yet he kept focusing on Jesus and finding joy in his situations through Him. And he keeps on going with another example too.
In verses 15-18 he talks about some are preaching Christ a little incorrectly. Some are doing it right, some are wrong. And some are specifically trying to cause more trouble to Paul while he’s imprisoned. And what is his reaction again? It’s so easy to be negative but Paul again chooses Joy through Christ. His answer was “what does it matter?” The only thing he cares about is that Christ’s name gets preached to those who never heard it. And he says “because of this I rejoice”! He keeps on purely focusing on God, and not his own situation.
Every sentence isn’t about his pain and suffering, focusing on the negative, it's about Jesus Christ! When I read these verses and examples I just constantly see how Apostle Paul makes constant choices to choose joy and hope in God through purely focusing on Jesus, and it should serve as a role model to all of us! When we come across problems and worries in our life, when we start to focus on those things too much, they grow and grow in our lives until they take all the joy away from us.
But the more we can set our focus upwards and outwards to others, the more we can live in Christ’s Joy, regardless of what were going through. Paul gives us a great example here that his focus is always, always on Christ. Everything he’s going through, he turns it to Christ, his thoughts, his mind, his actions.
Now that we see Apostle Paul is able to live in the Joy of the Lord through focusing on him, lets look at another area of scripture. In this moment Paul gives a great example of fixing our expectations. What does that mean? It means we stop expecting a life free from problems and instead start expecting God’s grace in our problems. We shift our expectation from worldly comfort to God’s grace and comfort.
In Apostle Pauls second letter to the Corinthians he talks a little bit about this incredible vision that he saw of heaven, and he explains on how he saw indescribable things, and he wants to boast about it, but look at what he says here.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
To me this seems like the wording is vague on purpose. Apostle Paul mentions he has a thorn in his flesh, but we truly don’t know what it was. It could be a physical health problem. It could be something else. But notice that Paul prayed 3 times to the Lord to take this away. It obviously was really tormenting him! But look at what happened. The Lord didn’t take that problem away, He said to Paul, My grace is sufficient, for my power is made perfect in weakness!
Right here, Paul is doing the right thing, he is praying for it to be taken away. And just like we pray for healing and deliverance from problems, that is exactly what we should do! We rely on God, and he does heal, and he does deliver! But there are moments in our lives where God wants to use those very problems to do something through us! And notice what Paul does next, he says therefore I wlll boast about my weakness. Apostle Paul changed his expectations from wanting to remove that problem to instead not expecting it to go away, but to delight in my weakness! because when I am weak, I am strong. Apostle Paul is making the choice to focus on the positive side of his problems!
I mean how many of us have had problems in our lives that we just keep on praying for God to remove them, but sometimes it either takes a long time, or they don’t really go away? And how many of us get discouraged or lose joy when something doesn’t go our way?
See, Apostle Paul is making that clear choice here! He can easily focus on the negative that is the thorn in his flesh. He can fall into self pity and just think man my life is so hard and bad. But he doesn’t! He chooses joy in Christ through it. And Paul gets it. He makes the choice. He no longer expects a pain-free life. He now expects to find God's power right in the middle of his pain.
He’s showing how to change our expectations. It means we stop expecting a life free from problems and instead start expecting God’s grace in our problems. And this is how we can start to feel true joy at all times! When you sometimes look at some very prolific, very well known Christians in the world, the ones who are doing the Lords work at massive scales, preaching and teaching to millions. You even look at some of the strongest Christians you know, and so many times, in their personal life, or in the background, there’s something that is super difficult. There’s something they often struggle with. Those extremely strong Christians are not always perfect inside and out. There’s one popular preacher in the United States that has a worldwide ministry, preaching to millions of people daily on podcasts and radios, and he has such bad back problems that it's a daily pain.
And through his problems he needs to stay close to God daily, and Gods doing an amazing work through him because of it. The others either pastors or whoever, they often have something theyre dealing with too! But its those people who choose joy and hope in the Lord, even during those circumstances, that become truly strong. Because again, Just like Apostle Paul said, when I am weak, I am strong. And He is strong through Christ.
When the expectation isn’t an always easy life, but a life full of the power and grace of God through our weakness, we can truly feel that joy in the Lord. Praise God! So what do we learn from Paul? He gives us two choices that unlock joy. First, Set Your Focus on God's mission, not your circumstances. Second, Fix Your Expectations on God's grace, not on a life without problems. I think Apostle Paul does an even better job summarizing this at the end of Phillipians:
Phillipians 4:11-13 “
11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.13I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Paul is saying he learned the secret of being content in every situation. And look at what he says at the end! I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. It’s Paul's pure focus towards Christ that lets him move beyond his circumstances, and get Joy from our God.
The more we set our focus on Jesus in the midst of our busy, and sometimes difficult lives, the more we look upwards and outwards to others, the more we accept and choose the joy he provides us today! He says I know what it is to be in need, to have plenty, to live in good times and in bad, hungry or well fed. If you notice the way he writes it, he’s saying regardless of what he’s going through, he is getting his joy from something else. He doesn’t expect anything from his current circumstances. It doesn’t matter whether its good or bad, because he has the Lord who gives him strength. Praise God!
I bet Apostle Paul didn’t know what really was going to happen with all these letters he wrote to all the Churches. But in prison, in such tough circumstances, he kept working for the Lord and chose to have joy in Christ through every step. And look at what happened and how God acutally used him. A bunch of his letters are in the Bible and thousands of years later we are sitting here reading, preaching, and teaching his word to millions and billions of people!
And yes, there are seasons that are not joyful. There's a time for joy, A time for sorrow and weeping, as it says in Ecclesiastes. There are seasons to life. But Jesus is calling us to realign our focus onto Him, and change our expectations so that we can feel that true joy that the Lord gives us, not the World that will always fail and dissapoint us. That no matter what is happening to us in this world, we have this unshakable faith and joy and hope in Jesus Christ. That we see his works and his goodness throughout all. Through our weaknesses, through our pains and struggles, just like Apostle Paul did.
This is the Joy Jesus invites us to choose today.