Joy, Church, and the Neglected Face of God - An 11-Day PlanSample

The Benefits of Joy

As I studied more about the role of joy in spiritual formation, I saw the benefits piling up. When Jim told me that he discovered the importance of joy and brought it to his counseling practice, he saw drastic changes in the lives of his patients. His clinic treated difficult cases that other clinics and churches had given up on, and most patients arrived to their first session in a state of severely low joy. Previously, the clinic would need to hospitalize a large percentage of these patients during their treatment. Their counseling sessions would send them into such deep trauma that they could no longer function. Jim and the other therapists had come to accept that hospitalization was a normal part of recovery.

Once the clinic started focusing on building patients’ joy before treating their trauma, hospitalization rates plummeted to almost zero. They were filling up their clients’ gas tanks with joy fuel before beginning the heavy work of trauma recovery. Trying to do emotionally taxing work with an empty tank is like running a marathon without having eaten food for a month. Eventually your body will shut down for lack of energy. Jim’s patients would emotionally collapse. We run the same danger in our churches and families when we do not build our joy together as a part of ministry. We eventually drain our tanks and run on empty.

Joy helps us regulate our emotions and endure suffering. Jesus refused to relinquish joy in the midst of His suffering on the cross. When we are able to stay relationally connected to others and God, we experience joy while we suffer. Joy does not remove our pain, but it gives us the strength to endure. Remember that joy is relational, so “joy in suffering” means that God and our community are glad to be with us in our distress. They do not allow us to suffer alone. We are able to bear our suffering like Jesus.

Contrary to what some preachers say in their sermons on Jesus’ “seven last words,” He never lost touch of His Father’s face shining on Him as He was tortured and humiliated. He could see through the angry faces in the crowd to the kind and steady gaze of His Father. His joy sustained Him. The author of Hebrews exhorts us to handle our suffering the same way. Jesus’ face helps us persevere through the pain of life.

It is important to remember that joy is not strictly an emotion. We might refer to it as a supra-emotion because it can go on top of and connect with other emotions. For example, if I lose my job, this is usually not considered a joyful occasion. Instead, I am probably feeling some combination of sadness, fear, and anger. However, when I experience these unpleasant emotions and can simultaneously feel that God is with me, I have added joy into the mix. If I have close friends who are also happy to be with me in my loss, my joy magnifies even more. Now I’m feeling sad and joyful. Fearful and joyful. Angry and joyful. Joy does not replace the unpleasant emotions; instead it combines with my emotions to keep me relationally connected in distress.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: 

1. Have you ever been sustained in suffering by the kind and compassionate face of another?

2. Think of a time you suffered alone. What did that feel like? Ask Jesus to reveal to you what He felt toward you in that difficult time.