“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 King James Version). Joy is mentioned throughout the New International Version Bible over 155 times in the Old Testament and 63 times in the New Testament. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; a state of happiness; or a source or cause of delight”. The Blue Letter Bible dictionary gives us the Greek transliteration “chara”, which means “cheerfulness, gladness, or calm delight”. When these two definitions are combined, one can clearly define and understand joy as “a source or cause of calm delight by the prospect of possessing what one desires”. To explain even further, any source of calm delight, or joy itself, can only be found through our faith in the Father and His plan and through our own personal sacrifices to God.
It is important to debunk the Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of joy having anything to do with emotions or happiness. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines happiness as “a pleasurable or satisfying experience”. Joy is often confused with happiness. However, since we know that the joy Jesus experienced did not stem from feelings of happiness and was not a “pleasurable experience”, we must understand that joy is not a feeling. Hebrews 12:2 is an exceptional example of Joy. This verse gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ suffering on the cross, He endured pain, agony, shame, and death, each of these things are the very opposite of happiness. Yet through all this suffering (sacrifice), He still could think of the Joy set before Him. Where could Jesus’ joy come from if His experience at the cross was not pleasurable? It was because of His faith in the Father’s plan that He experienced joy, even as He suffered a death He did not deserve.
One may ponder if joy has its own feeling. I would like to submit that joy isn’t a mere feeling at all. At times it can evoke feelings of happiness and euphoria, etcetera. However, joy itself is not a feeling, it is simply the knowledge of who God is and that no matter our circumstance, He has a plan for everything. Nothing takes God by surprise. Throughout the Bible, God reminds us of His sovereignty, and that through His sovereignty He has made plans for all of humanity. A well known scripture is Jeremiah 29 verse 11, which states, “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” In this scripture, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter, from God, to the survivors among the Jews in exile to Babylon, this letter reminded the Jews, that God still had a plan, even though their situation was much less than pleasurable. The message was written to bring joy to them. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, this scripture still applies to us. We can have joy also, not because of pleasurable circumstances, but because we know that no matter what we face, God still has a plan for our good. Our lives in Christ will require much sacrifice. However, when we stand firm knowing that God has a good plan for our sacrifice, we can do as James 1 versus 2 through 3 says, “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.
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