The Joy of the Lord
His joy gives us the strength to move forward when it all goes wrong.
Have you ever wondered what it means that the joy of the Lord is our strength?
Nehemiah 8:10 - 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.
Have you ever had a horrible day? Like the kind of day where no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to go right? You intend to do everything to the best of your ability, but somehow things just go sideways. The kind of day that ends with you feeling like you can do nothing right.
How do you find the strength to get up and go back at it tomorrow?
For me, it’s my husband’s encouragement and love toward me. When I’ve had a bad day, his love and kind words encourage me and make me feel better. I gain strength to keep going because I know there is at least ONE person who thinks I’m special. He and I have talked about this many times, and I know he feels the same when I encourage him. When he comes home from a rough day at work, or a stressful meeting, he doesn’t need me to fix it. He need to know I think he’s superman. The knowledge that we fully support one another and take joy in one another’s presence give us strength to face the tough days when they come.
We have joy in one another because of the positive things we see in each other. I look past Robert’s faults to see all the wonderful things about him instead. I have joy IN HIM and in his presence because I love him. And he has joy IN ME for the same reasons.
Robert doesn’t just take HIS JOY and physically or emotionally put it IN ME. He has joy in me, meaning he has joy TOWARD me because of who I am. I don’t take my joy and implant it in him. I have joy toward him for who he is. Knowing that Robert has joy in me most of the time doesn’t make ME feel joyful when I’ve had a bad day. What it does do is let me know he believes in me, and that gives me the strength to try again or to face whatever situation is happening. And that works vice versa for him.
With that in mind, it should shed some light on how the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is strength, not because it we possess the FEELING of the Lord’s joy in our own emotions or in our minds, but rather that the Lord’s joy is TOWARD us because of who we are.
This verse in Nehemiah 8 comes after Ezra had just completed reading the scriptures to all of Israel, and as the scriptures were being read to them, they realized they had not been obedient to God’s commands. They were weeping and wailing, falling on their faces and grieved by how badly they had let God down.
BAD DAY!
But God did not want them to weep. He had joy in them, and wanted them to get up, gain their strength from His joy, and celebrate Him. If you read all of Nehemiah, you will read that they were in the midst of rebuilding the city and temple, and it hadn’t been easy. They were oppressed, slandered, attacked, and mocked - all for doing the work of the Lord.
They had worked hard to rebuild what had been destroyed so they could get back to worshiping the Lord properly. They were ready to hear the Word of the Lord. They WANTED to hear the Word. But when they did, all the hard work and persecution they had endured seemed to be for nothing when they realized how badly they had been sinning against the Lord. Their hearts were broken, and they wept.
It was a very bad day.
But God had other thoughts about them. He knew they were seeking to worship Him, and that they were repentant for having gotten it wrong. He wanted to let them know He loved them, and that He took JOY in them so that they would have the strength to complete the task.
So, the phrase ‘the joy of the Lord is my strength,’ I believe, can reasonably be applied to mean that knowing the joy of the Lord is toward me gives me strength. He delights in me, and it is in knowing that, I gain the strength I need mo matter what the circumstances are. Especially when I don’t feel joy in myself.
It is His joy in (toward) me that strengthens me. So let me encourage you who are doing all you know how to do for the Lord and doing it to the best of your ability - He has joy toward you even when you don’t feel His joy inside you.
He loves you, and He is filled with joy when He thinks of you. Go in the strength of His joy!
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