“Tracing the concept of joy through the Bible helps us realize that our happiness, like our hope, is founded on realities that are unaffected by conditions of this world.”- Dr. Larry Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”- Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NIV)
In his introduction to Part 1: Joy Despite Your Circumstances of The Joy Challenge, Randy Frazee tells a story about the late Dr. Howard Hendricks. A beloved professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Hendricks once shared this story with his students. When Hendricks asked people how they were doing, they might respond, “Okay, under the circumstances.” However, Dr. Hendricks quipped back, “What are you doing under there?”
Certainly, for most of us, our circumstances hold our joy hostage. Above all, one factor makes it tough to navigate those circumstances. There’s only so much we can do to change them. Somethings within our control enable us to sustain a good set of circumstances. But some things, like the weather, remain outside our control.
Therefore, Randy counsels:
“When we let a fear response dominate our reactions to everyday life circumstances, it can become the greatest enemy of our happiness. Many of us choose to live life from the fear center of our brains all the time, and it robs us of joy. . . .
God has given us the ability to override our fear system and live in a happier place. This is what the apostle Paul wanted to teach us and even train us to experience — how to rise above our circumstances and live in a continual state of joy. This is God’s idea of joy and His desire for our lives.”
Today’s question: How do you feel when you are tracing the concept of joy through the Bible? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Human earthquakes – Richter scale”
