When I think of the word “joy” it’s hard not to associate it with being happy. Yes, they are connected, joy and happiness, but they are not always synonymous with one another. For instance, we can have joy and be in mourning. We can have joy and be in pain. We can have joy in the midst of oppression and injustice. Yes, joy does mean gladness, but it’s the source of gladness that most truly defines joy. For example, a boss who mistreats you can make you glad when they hand you a bonus check. But that’s not joy. That’s a temporary feeling that is dependent on man. In all reality, that same action, the giving of the bonus, could also induce feelings of anger or rage, depending on the amount.

Real joy, Biblical joy, is dependent on the source of gladness or the occasion for gladness. An example of this would be when we experience the death of a loved one. Sadness and mourning are the predominate feelings, most of the time, but joy comes when the Lord touches us in the midst of that trial. When He encourages us with the hope that we have in the face of death, or when His tangible presence infuses us with a strength beyond our natural ability at that moment. Our hearts cry out, “Lord, I’m so glad you are here, I’m so glad I’m not alone, or thank you for the strength to get through this.” This is the joy of the Lord! That special infusing of gladness that comes directly from Holy Spirit who abides in us. As I cry my heart out at the loss of my loved one, I rejoice that He cries too, that He is holding my hand, and that He draws close to those who are brokenhearted. It’s the same thing that happens when we are sick or in pain. Those are not happy occasions, but gladness can still be our state of being because of the One who takes residence in our very being.

This doesn’t make us bi-polar, being sad and glad at the same time. It makes us peculiar, which is exactly what we want to be. We want to be different from the usual, different from the normal. That’s our English definition for “peculiar”, but the Greek and Hebrew define it simply as being His; belonging to Him. Exodus 19:5 says, “now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure…, and above all peoples…”. We are what one commentary calls, “a redeemed company, a purchased possession, His jewels, His portion, His inheritance, chosen, and special above all others. Now that’s something to be glad about, even in the midst of the storm.

One last thing. The word joy in scripture is a noun, specifically in Nehemiah where it talks about the joy of the Lord being our strength. As a noun (person, place, thing, entity, and quality), we can embrace joy as the following things:

Joy is a Person / Entity - Joy is God. He is joy. When we have Him, we have joy. We have the person of Christ, as His spirit (Holy Spirit) living on the inside of us at all times as believers, which means we have access to joy at all times as believers.
Joy is a Thing - joy is tangible, and can be felt, because again, Joy is Him and we have access to this thing called joy as a part of our inheritance in Christ.
Joy is a Quality - when I say something softly, it is a quality of my voice at the time. To live joy describes our quality of life. We may feel sadness, grief, anger, but they don’t determine how we live.
Joy is a Place - like South Korea, Mars, and your own backyard are places, so too is joy. We can reside in joy, live there and live from there, because we live in Him and live from relationship with Him. We can leave despair and go to that place called joy, and reside there. We never have to leave, and when life happens and we do drift away, it’s is always there for us to go back to.

The above pictures speak Joy to me. A joyful father and son, in the prime of their relationship. And the old man. Age and maturity evident in his smiling joyful face. Hey may have experienced many hard days, but Shalom radiates from him. He is the future face of the young father with his son if they live a life of joy, experiencing it as a the person of Christ, feeling His tangible presence, letting it determine how they live, and residing in it, in joy, no matter what life throws at them.

May the Joy of the Lord be the truth you live, every day.