Don’t be robbed of joy!

“So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22).

Do not let your current situation rob you of your joy in the Lord!

In John 16, Jesus was telling His disciples about His death and resurrection. They did not quite grasp all what He was saying. He was informing them they were in a time of grief, but soon afterwards they would soon rejoice. They would grieve because of Jesus’ death and their future uncertainty. However, that grief would turn to joy when they would see the resurrected Christ. It would be a joy that no one would be able to take away.

How joyful are you today? What are the things in your life that can rob you of your joy in the Lord? Satan enjoys using temporal circumstances to rob us of eternal blessings. He wants to steal away your joy in the Lord. He does this by getting us to focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do have. I have often said, “Change brings loss and loss brings pain.” We have all experienced some level of loss during the pandemic and along with that some mental, emotional, and/or relational pain.

Because of circumstantial change, your happiness may have diminished. Happiness is dependent on circumstances. When things are going well, we are happy. When things aren’t going well, our happiness wanes. Our joy in the Lord, however, transcends circumstances. This joy is not just a feeling. It is a “deep-down” knowing that God is using our trying circumstances to accomplish His pruning work in us. James calls it “pure joy” (James 1:2). Paul reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites in Jerusalem and us with, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The “pure joy” we receive from the Holy Spirit transcends our circumstances and gives us strength in the middle of them. There are Christian around the world going through much tougher things than we are and filled with a supernatural joy in the Lord. If you don’t believe me, read The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken.

Jesus told His disciples, “no one will take away your joy.” The joy they would experience would come from personally seeing the resurrected Christ and spiritually receiving the benefits of His resurrection. When you put your trust in Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, you received them as well – forgiveness of all your sins, a right standing with God, a new nature in order to please God and abundant life, power over sin, the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, assurance of eternal life, a promise that He would never leave you or forsake you, adoption into the family of God, a promise of an eternal inheritance that would never fade, boldness to tell others about Jesus, etc. I could go on and on.

Don’t let Satan use your current circumstances to rob you of your joy in the Lord. Be determined to not allow anyone or anything take away your joy. Instead, let the joy of the Lord be your strength today!