Always surprised by joy

You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures. Psalm 16:11 (CSB)

In his book, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis details his spiritual journey from a traditional Christian childhood through his season of atheism until that night when he “admitted that God was God,” moved into a confident Christianity, and discovered the true source of joy.

“There was no doubt that Joy was a desire…But a desire is turned not to itself but to its object. Not only that, but it owes all its character to its object…It is the object that makes the desire itself desirable or hateful…. Joy itself, considered simply as an event in my own mind, turned out to be of no value at all. All the value lay in that of which Joy was the desiring. And that object, quite clearly, was no state of my own mind or body at all. …Last of all I had asked if Joy itself was what I wanted; and, labeling it “aesthetic experience,” had pretended I could answer Yes. But that answer too had broken down.

In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England…. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”

C.S. Lewis discovered in his search that joy is not in things but in the Who. Lewis wrote Surprised by Joy not as a general autobiography but as the telling of his story of conversion, finding what he called “joy.”

Connie and I had just finished a three-week mission trip to Kenya in January and returned with our hearts full. Over and over again, we saw the radiant joy of fellow Believers and were reminded again, that “stuff” is not the measure of joy and happiness. The world, and unfortunately even in some churches, offer a message that has warped the definition of what is needed to bring satisfaction. It is so easy to twist the meaning of joy and happiness to mean fulfillment is found only in the value of possessions, power, and positions.

I had the honor of sitting with a young pastor and his family in their “modest home” yet there was no mistaking what joy looks like. Connie and I had the privilege to help serve people in the middle of Kibera slums through a medical clinic and there was no mistaking what joy looks like. Connie and the team of nurses on the trip ministered to the health needs of those living in rural Kenya, yet there was no mistaking what joy looks like.

Followers of Jesus and the non-believing world all seek happiness. It is within this context that Randy Alcorn writes, “Don’t talk of joy as this unemotional transcendent thing and happiness as this worldly thing, because when we do that, we are pushing people, who all seek happiness, away from the gospel.”

Lewis understood that the source of joy was in the Who not the what. This same understanding was found among these fellow believers in Kenya. The source is not in “things” but in a person. John captured Jesus’ words when he said, “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)

Eugene Peterson wrote about the outward expression of joy. “More praising goes on in church, more joy is expressed in the context of the Christian congregation, than anywhere else on the face of the earth.” He compared the outward expression of joy to the common places we encounter daily from supermarkets with anxious shoppers, to angry horns blowing on the highway. He wrote of athletic events where, “there are extravagant emotional expressions there, but it is surprising how few of them are joyful. The dominant mood is complaining, arguing, and criticizing.”

Peterson admitted the church family, it’s not a perfect place. Yet he wrote, “I know it could be improved. I know that some people are disappointed in it. But I don’t find any other place in the world where there is such a consistent friendliness, such a steady joy, such a relaxed rejoicing in God’s love.”

Dig deep and enjoy the rich goldmine of verses that describe the depth of joy and happiness that followers of Jesus have in their life. G.K. Chesterton said it well, “the atheist sees beauty but has no one to thank, and thus no one to be happy in.”

Paul’s vivid description of temporary happiness in Galatians 5 pales in comparison with the fantastic feast that God provides for us that brings true joy and happiness. For the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

“Despite your tribulation, take full delight in God, your exceeding joy this morning, and be happy in him.” –Charles Spurgeon

God is great!