We all are searching for joy, yes, all of us whether followers of Christ or not.
“4Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on earth, 5that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?” – Job 20:4-5 (ESV)
When I find joy, am I finding it in God, or am I finding it in the world? I know this is a tough question to answer and one that gets me to really thinking.
When I find joy, I have to be looking for the sustainability of that joy. When the joy I find is in God and all that he has given, then it stays with me. When I relish in the joy from the world, it is fleeting and is only for the moment.
Take the example of winning some competition or finding success with a task or project, that joy is only for that moment and as soon as the next competition or task is upon us, the joy is gone. But, when we find joy in the working through the competition or task and our joy is rooted in the completion that stays with us forever.
I may have been looking at it all wrong. The season we are in is a struggle and I have not been running this race for the race itself, but looking for the finish line. The line will not come here on earth, it is a constant race that we have to continue running and find joy in that race as opposed to looking for the joy of the end. God provides the joy during the race and when found by us, we will be able to more fully embrace it. When our joy comes from the one task or competition completion, we are able to embrace the moment and not the journey God has us on.
Are you embracing the winning of the competition, or the completion of a task? What if you were to simply embrace the journey instead of the moment? How much more sustainable joy would you be able to find by avoiding the simple moment of earthly “victory”?
Trevor's Thoughts 