The Paradox of Joy (written August 15, 2009)

“Joy is not the absence of difficulty”. The Lord spoke this to me this weekend while I was thanking Him for the closeness that has come to be more normal in my walk lately. In the midst of that prayer of thanksgiving, my mind began to recount the personal struggles I have been through recently (and still battle currently). I won’t dive into the details here, but know that I have been forced to face the worst kind of fears a father could confront. So over the past several months my family and I have been through enough emotional suffering to last us a lifetime. As I was taking inventory of my “present suffering” it felt wrong to be thinking of joy. It just doesn’t seem logical to think that in the midst of such pain that joy would be possible…but it’s there. With the battle still raging it feels important to capture the unique paradox of joy and difficulty, suffering and hope. As I meditate on this I draw wisdom from other saints that new something of joy and suffering. I first think of King David who wrote in Psalm 23 (I know you’ve heard/read this a hundred times but really read it right now):

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.5 you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

There are those that read this and fully know David’s reference to “…the valley of the shadow of death…”, you know loss and pain. I don’t know that I did until this past year but I have literally faced “the shadow of death” and in the midst of this valley, I have experienced the comfort of the Lord’s rod and staff (His strength and direction). This experience has left me with the hope and assurance that “…I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Maybe it’s coincidental that these things (suffering and hope) are currently connected or maybe it’s just God’s provision for me as I face this difficulty. Maybe, but then I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul’s discussion on the topic in Romans 5 where Paul seems to be writing the formula for hope that begins with suffering.

Romans 5:3…We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

I’ve been guilty of reading this verse as if it were a formula, some type of spiritual equation. I can logically tie together how suffering leads to perseverance. It makes since if you deal with tough things you get stronger and are more able to persevere. I also get how that perseverance breeds character.   But what I could not understand, until recently, is how that hope is related to any of this. Why hope? I think the piece that ties the first three (suffering, perseverance and character) to the latter (hope) is trust (or faith). You see, the hope that I now have is firmly rooted in knowing the depths of God’s love and experiencing the power of His Spirit and feeling the depth of intimacy with Jesus in these low times. All of those things raise my faith in Him and allow me to fully realize the hope, or joy, that is promised Christians. This is a faith that is taught not caught, learned in the school of spiritual hard knocks.

Run from the preacher that tries to convince you that the goal of a Christ Follower is a life without struggle.  I haven’t come across many that would state it so plainly, but I have heard many messages that paint the ideal picture of a Christian is a life without difficulty. Their messages tend to be heavy on the call to prayer for blessings and then subtly hint that any adversity you’re facing may be your lack of faith. The truth is, that the current suffering you’re facing may be about faith, not the faith you’re lacking but the faith that God is building in you. It’s in that new found faith that you’ll also find joy.

Joy is not the absence of difficulty.