Thoughts on Joy

Joy is elusive.

I was riding in a vehicle with a good friend of mine last night, and we were discussing a mutual friend. This friend (the one being spoken about) has what one might call an addictive personality. Once he finds a vice, he latches on with great gusto. When the vice ends up being more trouble than it's worth, he quits it with as great of gusto. As we talked about this friend, my car companion called him a "tortured soul," the kind of individual who keeps searching for happiness but will never allow themselves to be happy. After I thought about it a bit today, I think I disagree.

Honestly, I think most of us are just as "tortured"; we aren't really all that joy-filled. My friend's only abnormality is that he is more desperate for that happiness and more willing to do whatever it takes to find it. When he believes something will make him happy, he dives in will all he has. When it doesn't lead to joy, he quits with just at much passion and ponders the next path to take towards happiness.

I think it's a pretty common thing for people to be without joy. Most of us would say that we are pretty happy, but I think it's a cover. Facing a lack of joy is a heavy thing - to honestly assess one's life and realize that something is missing, despite all of our efforts, is a very scary scenario. So we take comfort in our comfort: we tell ourselves that for the most part, everything is okay, and that's the best anyone can hope for. Thoreau described this in his writing, saying that "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. . ." The only difference between most of us and this friend is that this friend won't be quiet about his desperation. He actively pursues an end to it in the best way he knows how. To me that's probably far better than passively accepting mediocre comfort.

I should probably stop here and a few beliefs of my own driving what I'm saying:

1. Joy: must be long-lasting and passionate.
2. The only source of this kind of joy is God.
3. The ultimate purpose of a Christian life is to bring God glory.
4. God is glorified most when we have this joy.

Therefore: It is a sin to not have joy, to not passionately seek it with all your being. I must see God in everything to obtain this joy. I can't have this joy without God. I will continue to have a nagging desperation for this kind of joy (whether quiet or loud) for the rest of my life. I must choose what to do about this on a daily basis.

Bottom line: joy is hard work. Joy is elusive. Joy requires a lot from us. And joy is the only thing that will satisfy.

This comes to mind as I watch MANY of my close friends and family struggle with their own happiness as of late. It comes to mind as I look at the past couple of months and wonder just how much of it I spent filling joy-less hours because those hours were God-less. As I reflect and attempt to live purposefully and attempt to teach kids how to do the same and try to lead my family into the best life possible (a joy-filled one, I hope), getting joy figured out is essential.

If I'm going to exhibit self-control and be who I say I am, I've got to get more intentional about this joy. And I've got to get a lot more passionate about seeking it.