What brings joy? Can cash, credit card, condominium, country club membership or car? If joy be abiding and happiness momentary, then the above can at best bring happiness but not joy. Where then can the elusive joy be found?

*Joy and fruitful labor

As a student, there is the satisfaction of being able to solve a tough question. As a working adult, there is the pleasure of meeting a deadline or completing a project after working on it for months. The wages obtained from honest labor is sweet indeed. The Bible tells us that blessings and prosperity will be yours when you eat from the fruit of your labor. (Psalms 128: 2). From the very start, work is a gift from God. (Gen. 1: 28). We derive satisfaction from the end product of our creativity be it assembling a computer, writing a new program or cooking a new dish. Sin makes work hard not ad. (Gen.3: 17). The satisfaction and pleasure gained from work is joy.

Joy and wonder

Young parents can testify to the ceaseless inquisitiveness of their toddlers. Questions about the world abound. Their sense of wonder is palpable. And in their presence one can learn joy.

The well-known writer and philosophical speaker Ravi Zacharias said that as we grow older, it takes more to preserve the same amount of wonder. He added that only the infinite God can be the source of continual wonder. Hear the amazement of the psalmist when he says, The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the works of His hand. (Ps. 19: 1) Joy and wonder are intertwined. When I lose my sense of wonder, I lose my joy.

Joy and hope

Uncertainty causes worry and insecurity. That unsettles us. In the midst of retrenchment, sickness and death, can there be joy? No one can promise me that tomorrow I will find a job, my health will improve, my spouse will come back.

Against the backdrop of fear and pain, I hear the words of Jesus, Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Jn 14:27, Heb. 13:5). Beyond the veil of suffering, God alone is the source of hope.

When the cries of agony and melancholy resound, joy is the settled peace and assured hope that the sovereign God is still in control. His throne is intact. The scepter remains in His hand. The curtain is torn. With compassion and love, God beckons His child to enter with joy.

Joy and relationships

Joy flourishes at the meeting of hearts. Observe the camaraderie of a group of friends whose ties are strengthened by the years of being together through school and the army. The spontaneity and laughter is priceless. Note the quiet affection between couples married for a long time.

Relationships are fragile entities. In relationships when love, trust and acceptance are given and reciprocated, one finds joy. However this joy is a foretaste. To paraphrase CS Lewis, " Our earthly loves are but a pale reflection of heaven where our ability to love and be loved will be perfected in Christ." There, my friend, is the ultimate joy.

Joy can be found in fruitful labor, wonder, hope and relationships, the source of which can all be traced to the Creator Himself. So let us turn ourselves away from the temporary pleasures of sin, lust, covetousness and greediness, toward the One who came to give us His heavenly and everlasting joy. The Lord Jesus said: " These things (i.e. about abiding in Him) I have spoken unto you, that MY joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be FULL!" John 15: 11 (Emphasis mine). That's the secret! His joy in us!

Be encouraged.

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