Joy and Happiness
Joy is the field that happiness was meant to grow from; but when we try to make happiness the field, we will always be left to reap sorrow.
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” – Hebrews 12:2-3 NKJV
Joy is on the other side of hard things.
I’ve been in this passage for months and have not felt released to move on from it. For months, I’ve been ruminating over Jesus as our example. “Keep our eyes on Him,” the author so brilliantly states. Yet it was verse 3 that recently grabbed my attention.
“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” – Hebrews 12:3 NKJV
When you marry the scripture above with the following scripture, hopefully you will see what I’m talking about.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” – Galatians 6:9 NKJV
Don’t grow weary in doing the right thing because eventually you will reap good things if you don’t.
Jesus played the long game. He refused short cuts or simple fixes. He saw joy before Him, but in between Him and the joy were some really hard things.
What if the joy you so desperately want is on the other side of you finally facing your past? Facing your hurt? Facing your pain? Facing your spouse? Facing your brokenness? Facing whatever you’re running from or ignoring altogether?
I love Hebrews 12:3 because it says for us to consider Jesus, who endured hostility so that we won’t become discouraged in our souls.
Our souls are our mind, will, and emotions. When we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we remember that we are called to the long game also. This life is fleeting, and there is a joy that awaits us in eternity. That is true, but what I also believe is that we can live with eternity on our minds and in our hearts. Joy is possible in our lives this side of eternity. It just means we must dig it out of the ground in our lives.
I’ve learned something valuable in this season: joy was never something I needed to chase out there, somewhere far off. It was always right beneath me, the ground under my feet. The moment I stopped searching for it in external things, trying to fill the void, and instead began digging into the hardened soil of my own heart, that’s when I truly began to uncover joy.
Joy is not the absence of hard things. In fact, it’s often found right in the middle of them. With a little intention and hard work, it’s amazing what begins to grow in the life you already have, especially when you stop comparing and start tilling the ground of your own heart.
Joy is worth the work, and joy always requires work.
Response: What hard thing have you been avoiding that might actually be the soil where joy is waiting to grow?
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” – Hebrews 12:2-3 NKJV
Joy is on the other side of hard things.
I’ve been in this passage for months and have not felt released to move on from it. For months, I’ve been ruminating over Jesus as our example. “Keep our eyes on Him,” the author so brilliantly states. Yet it was verse 3 that recently grabbed my attention.
“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” – Hebrews 12:3 NKJV
When you marry the scripture above with the following scripture, hopefully you will see what I’m talking about.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” – Galatians 6:9 NKJV
Don’t grow weary in doing the right thing because eventually you will reap good things if you don’t.
Jesus played the long game. He refused short cuts or simple fixes. He saw joy before Him, but in between Him and the joy were some really hard things.
What if the joy you so desperately want is on the other side of you finally facing your past? Facing your hurt? Facing your pain? Facing your spouse? Facing your brokenness? Facing whatever you’re running from or ignoring altogether?
I love Hebrews 12:3 because it says for us to consider Jesus, who endured hostility so that we won’t become discouraged in our souls.
Our souls are our mind, will, and emotions. When we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we remember that we are called to the long game also. This life is fleeting, and there is a joy that awaits us in eternity. That is true, but what I also believe is that we can live with eternity on our minds and in our hearts. Joy is possible in our lives this side of eternity. It just means we must dig it out of the ground in our lives.
I’ve learned something valuable in this season: joy was never something I needed to chase out there, somewhere far off. It was always right beneath me, the ground under my feet. The moment I stopped searching for it in external things, trying to fill the void, and instead began digging into the hardened soil of my own heart, that’s when I truly began to uncover joy.
Joy is not the absence of hard things. In fact, it’s often found right in the middle of them. With a little intention and hard work, it’s amazing what begins to grow in the life you already have, especially when you stop comparing and start tilling the ground of your own heart.
Joy is worth the work, and joy always requires work.
Response: What hard thing have you been avoiding that might actually be the soil where joy is waiting to grow?
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