Joy Unchanging
Joy.
Life isn’t always comfortable. In fact, life can take cruel turns that leave us asking whether true joy even exists.
This entire blog is about finding joy - but not just joy. We are searching for an unrelentless, unadulterated, uncompromising joy. Joy that doesn’t retreat in our most painful moments. Joy untainted.
But before we can go about seeking for the fullness of joy, I have to ask - what even is joy to begin with?
Merriam Webster defines joy as“the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires” and “a state of happiness or felicity.”* Here we see an emphasis on circumstantial realities as the source of joy, we see joy as an emotion and a ‘state of happiness.’
To continue with our little word hunt, let’s define happiness - joy’s cousin so to speak.
“a state of well-being and contentment”**
Again, we see a state of being well and content with one’s more or less ideal circumstances. Happiness and joy are circumstantial according to these definitions. And in a world where it seems that all we can see and understand is our present surroundings, it makes sense that we would define them as such - we find what we consider to be joy in relation to how comfortable and content we are with our lives.
We want happiness in our identities, in our relationships, in our professional endeavors. We dream of secure, planned, and convenient futures; lives without care, discomfort, or tragedy to throw wrenches into our plans and dreams. And dreaming is essential for us to continue to hope and work towards something better than what we are experiencing now. But it’s not enough to stop life from happening to us. It’s not enough to shelter us from the raging storm.
And here is where I beg to differ from Merriam Webster (sorry Webster, I love you anyway!) Life is too short to measure its quality by our circumstances. It’s too short for us to wait for our dreams to be fulfilled to find our joy. It’s too unpredictable for us to depend on what we think brings us joy.
What if joy came from something unchanging? Like knowing your ultimate worth?
How do I know? Look at a penny.
A penny can be washed, thrown, scrubbed, stepped on, stored away in a piggy bank, passed through multiple hands, left to rust, or left as shiny as a button. In the eyes of its creator (and its owners!) its worth remains the same. It will always be worth a cent.
My friend, we are pennies. We may feel tiny, insignificant, unworthy. But unlike pennies, we are priceless. Each one of us was created, fashioned uniquely for a purpose and space in the world that only one person - you - can fill. There has never been anyone like you, and never will be for the rest of time.
That understanding informs every other aspect of your life - the things that we think give us joy. Our relationships, our identities, our jobs and hobbies. Those things can only bring us real joy when we understand our worth in the eyes of God and the universe. Then, nothing that goes wrong with those gifts can steal our joy, because our worth will forever remain the same. Then, joy can exist despite the circumstances.
What if joy came from something unchanging? Like knowing your ultimate worth?
As we begin to explore more of what it means to seek after joy in every aspect of our lives, we can begin to see that joy is not dismissing your feelings, grief, anguish, and struggles - it’s recognizing the pain, then coming to the place where you are more than that which threatens to consume you - your life has meaning beyond what’s gone wrong. It’s being joyfully sustained in the midst of trial.
Joy is freedom.
Freedom from circumstances. From people’s opinions. From your own insecurities. Because despite these things, the joy that comes from Something larger than ourselves and burrows deep within our souls is what defines us and reminds us that we are more than our pain - we’re worth more and are more than what this world has to offer us.
With that freedom dear friend, you can climb mountains. Or even move them. Because if we are satisfied in what we’ve been given and in the journey that we are taking, if we can be cognizant of and reckon with what’s not perfect while rising above the imperfections to be something bigger and better than what the world tells us we can be - nothing can stop us.
So with that, I leave you with this:
Joy is freedom.
Now, you may be asking, how do we practically experience joy? How can we capture and hold joy in our hearts, regardless of what life throws our way? Well, stay tuned my friend, we’ve only just begun.
Joyfully yours,
Bel
*“Joy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joy. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.
**“Happiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happiness. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.
The Bible Project. “Joy.” YouTube, uploaded by The Bible Project, 14 Dec 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvOhQTuD2e0&t=140s.
beautifully written!