How to Choose Joy
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23
This past December I had the opportunity to speak at a women’s event at my church. The theme of the event was Comfort & Joy, and while my dear friend tackled the comfort portion, my task was to preach about the joy of the Lord. I’m happy to say the event went wonderfully. I love speaking at events like this and sharing God’s word; it fills me in a way I can’t really describe.
Yet, still the very best part of sharing that message on joy has been the experience and reflection it’s stirred in my own heart. Of all the women in the room that day, I was probably the one who needed to hear about the joy of the Lord the most. To prove my point, just a few weeks prior to this event I texted a trusted few ladies this message: “I need prayer for a season of discouragement that is bordering on depression. All I want to do is lie in bed. I can’t seem to shake it. Thanks for being my people <3”
It was a tough place to come from. I felt like a fraud investigating biblical joy in the hopes of teaching it to others when I clearly could not get ahold of it myself. But then an amazing thing happened — the more I studied, and the more I focused on the source of joy, the less heavy I felt. The more I magnified Jesus, the more joy seeped in. The sources of my discouragement were (and are) still there, but joy crept in anyway. I’m learning firsthand that joy and struggle can coexist. I’m learning how to choose joy in the season I’m in, and it’s been a gift.
This experience has launched a focus for me on the fruit of the Spirit. If joy is experienced in increasing measure by zooming in on Christ and his word, my guess is the same can be said for the others laid out in Galatians 5. So, for the next several posts, I’ll be focusing on one component of the fruit of the Spirit, in hopes of cultivating it deeper in my own life (and maybe even helping you to do the same). What follows below is an adaptation of the joy message I gave back in December. I pray you experience the joy of the Lord as you engage with his word, just as I have. Happy reading :)
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Music is really a remarkable thing. The psychology of it is fascinating. Think about it — the varying wavelengths of sound and texture of phrasing from our vocal cords contains within in the power to deepen the meaning of and connection to words in profound ways. In our lives, music marks special moments, the first dance of a husband and wife, the lullabies we sing to our kids, Pomp and Circumstance played at every graduation.
In my own home music is often the bringer of fun. My 9-year-old and I have been known to have some pretty epic dance parties, and our show we watch together is The Voice. It’s a whole ordeal every week. My husband is famous for changing the words to any random song to match what’s going on in the moment. His favorite muse to sing about is our 17-year-old daughter, and if eye rolls equalled applause, he would rich in standing ovations. Music is woven into the fabric of our lives.
Today we’re going to look at a famous song in the scriptures: Mary’s Song found in Luke. It’s this beautiful moment of worship that transpires between Mary and Elizabeth. And through this song we get glimpses into Mary’s heart and her character. We get glimpses into God’s power and his plans, and we get a telling picture of what the joy of the Lord is all about.
Because the truth of the matter is, at the time of this song Mary is facing some really hard things. At the time of this song Mary is a young woman, likely about 13. She’s engaged, which was a legally binding contract in those days, and told by an angel that she will conceive a child by way of the Holy Spirit. Mary accepts this call from God to bear and mother Jesus with humility and willingness. Her response to the angel Gabriel is this, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Yet, she must have wondered what the personal cost would be.
At best this unexpected pregnancy would yield speculation and distrust from her community. The prospect of explaining this new development to Joseph, and to her parents, must have been daunting. We know Joseph didn’t believe her at first (and who can blame him). His initial plan to divorce her quietly tells us this. And even though the truth was revealed to Joseph in time, we’re not told if others in her community understood or ever accepted her. We do know under the full force of the law Mary could have been killed. And being kicked out of her home was a likely consequence.
The passage we’re looking at today occurs when Mary travels to visit her cousin Elizabeth, after discovering she too is pregnant. Some theologians believe Mary’s trip to see Elizabeth was because she had no where else to go. The road from Nazareth to the hill country where Elizabeth lived was a dangerous road, one that a young pregnant woman would not likely opt to travel on.
Luke 1:39-56 reads:
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
I hope you can hear the joy in this exchange between Mary, Elizabeth. There is deep rejoicing and Mary’s commitment to follow God’s plan is strong and resolute. There’s not a single statement of complaint or even mention of her circumstances. So here is the first thing we get to learn about joy from this two — Joy is not reliant on our circumstances or the potential consequences they threaten. In fact, Mary’s hard circumstances are the springboard from which her joy is launched. Light shines brightest in dark places.
Elizabeth essentially says to Mary, I don’t care what anyone else says, I don’t care what society might think, you are blessed. Elizabeth affirms to Mary what God has already told her, and Mary bursts into song. It’s like living in a broadway musical. Joy is not the result of things going our way it is the recognition and celebration of things going God’s way. These women are rejoicing because that are certain that God is using them for his glory.
Katherine Wolfe is an author and advocate who has built her ministry around her greatest suffering. When she was newly married, and a brand new mom, she endured a brain aneurysm that led to a stroke and resulted in paralysis. For months she couldn’t speak, walk or eat. To this day she experiences paralysis on half her body. Yet, here is what she says about her circumstance:
“There has been given me a crazy freedom. I’m not trying to worship at the alter of a pain-free life. This life is the one I’ve been given and I have the opportunity to love it, and to champion it really well exactly as it is. No matter how hard our stories are, don’t miss the life right in front of you. Even if it’s not the life that you imagined. I fancy myself a joy rebel. I am rebelling with joy, because God has met me in every hard thing I’ve faced and he continues to use it all for his glory. Being a joy rebel is something we entirely have the ability to do.”
As we look on Mary’s song, I hope you hear the joyful rebellion in her words. Often we think of Mary as this timid and demure woman, this silent stoic figure, and I don’t think that’s accurate. She is fiercely obedient and wise, and her submission to God’s plan displays her inner strength and courage and her love for the Lord at all costs.
Read some of those lines again:
“And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate”
These are powerful, sure and steady words. I love the clarity and confidence in which she sings them. This confidence is born from the fact that she knows God. She knows the Lord of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Which brings us to the next thing we learn about Joy from Mary: Joy is the result of knowing who God is.
In Mary’s song, which is ten verses long, there are at least fifteen quotations from the Old Testament. Her words allude to passages found in Psalm 22, Psalm 44 , Psalm 103 and many others. She also alludes to Hannah’s Song found in 1 Samuel. This means that Mary was a woman who knew God’s Word from so deep a place that she could spontaneously burst into song about it. Mary’s heart and mind were saturated with Scripture.
And finally the next thing we get to learn about the Joy of the Lord here is this: Joy is result of right focus.
Mary says “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Picture a Sherlock Holmes style magnifying glass. When you lift it up to zoom in on the thing you want to see clearly, all the things on the periphery move out of the field of view. This is what Mary is singing about. All those things in the periphery are still there; they’re just not the point. Mary knows that she and the whole rest of the world are in need of a savior, and she knows God will be the one to do it. Her gaze is fixed.
And ultimately, at the end of the day: this joy she’s experiencing is the physical presence of God’s blessing in her life. The blessing is the child in Mary’s womb, Emmanuel: God with us. This child, soon to be born, and someday to be crucified and risen as eternal king is the same Jesus that offers us the very same joy today. A joy not because of our earthly circumstances, but a joy based on knowing him and magnifying him.
I think there’s an even simpler way to define joy. Joy is the result of seeing truth. The true reality of things that last — not that which will come to pass like long shadows in a late afternoon sun, but what is now and will remain when all other things have come to pass. Joy is the gift given to those who focus their hearts on Jesus at all cost and through all things. I believe that the cost can even be the catalyst for joy as God honors your sacrifice. Mary proves this.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, if you want joy, ask for it and make your soul magnify God. Be like Mary, strengthen your mind with scripture, be boldly obedient, and fancy yourself a joy rebel. As his followers, we have a great capacity to do hard things with deep joy. And the world is desperate for us to show them.
