3 Keys to Holding on to Joy in Hard Times
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)
In this one passage, we will see three points on how we can find true joy: joy sees the destination, joy knows where it came from, and joy is confident in its stand against shame.
1. Joy sees the destination.
For the joy set before Him, Jesus laid aside His heavenly garments and clothed himself in the rags of humanity. It wasn’t for the joy of wearing the rags of humanity that Jesus took on flesh. Rather it was for the joy set before Him that He trudged through the muck of the sin in our world. Knowing the goal and the ultimate destination gave Jesus not only the strength but the joy to go through it all. For the joy of the resurrection, He went through the torture of the crucifixion.
As Paul says in Romans 8, we are “heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Romans 8:17b (NASB) When we keep our ultimate destination in mind and pursue it with all our might, all the other junk of life fades in light of that joy. Before we can have true joy, we need to know what our ultimate destination is. Our ultimate destination is Christlikeness and the way we get there is by submitting to the Holy Spirit along the path of life.
In today’s society, social justice is often seen as the ultimate good and the means for a social utopia, which the world gives as its ideal destination. But our focus should not be on social justice but on God’s Word and His kingdom. Anything that distracts us from focusing on God’s kingdom, as good as it may seem, is evil. It does nothing for our neighbor if we feed them but don’t share the Gospel with them. It does nothing for those living in poverty if we teach them how to make money but don’t teach them the Gospel. The first thing we see about joy is that it has the long-term, big picture in mind and focuses on the end goal. True joy is found in pursuing Christlikeness and sharing the Gospel along the way. Social justice is a good thing, but don’t let the good rob us of the best.
2. Joy knows where it came from.
“Fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith...” Hebrews 12:2a (ISV)
More than half of the translations of this verse have the author and finisher of our faith. Other translations have the author and finisher of faith. But the Greek says something else. Only one translation has what the Greek says, the author and finisher of the faith, and that's the ISV. Jesus did not perfect faith in general or all belief systems. Jesus is the author and perfecter of one specific faith, Judaism. It is not possible to have a true understanding of Jesus without understanding His Jewish-ness. Psalm 119:143b says, “Your commandments are my delight.” (NASB)
The joy of the Old Testament that leads to the joy of the New Testament is found in keeping God’s commandments. To have true joy we must follow God’s commandments. We choose not to commit adultery, lie, murder and steal, not because those things are not fun, but because we are commanded not to, both by God’s Word and by our own conscience. We can only be free when we live in community with others who are living by a set of commandments. To be free, we have to be ruled by God’s commandments.
We can’t experience the true joys of the New Testament without knowing the commands and words of the Old Testament. You already know more Old Testament than you give yourself credit for. If I were to begin Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,” (NASB) you probably can finish the Psalm. If I were to ask you to tell the story of Genesis 1-3 from creation to the fall of man, you could probably do a decent job telling it like it happened. Don’t take for granted the truths you know; knowing the foundation for your joy will lead to true joy.
3. Joy is confident in its stand against shame.
Jesus was so confident in pursuing the joy set before Him that He despised the shame of the moment. Jesus chose the shameful death of a cross to bring God’s salvation to a culture where honor and shame were more important than life and death. King Saul chose to fall on his own sword rather than be killed or captured by the enemy. His armor bearer also fell on his sword instead of returning home in shame.
Jesus knew that shame was a more powerful threat even than the threat of death. His joy came in bringing salvation to God’s people in spite of shame. His example led Peter to further despise shame by being crucified upside down for the joy of joining Christ in His resurrection.
When we know where our joy comes from, we can despise the culture of our time that is trying to mount shame on our shoulders to conform to them. True joy doesn’t come from people, it comes from God. As much as it is possible, we are to live at peace with all men; but when it is not possible, serve God first and stand in opposition to shame.
When the troubles of the world try to steal your joy, remember:
Joy sees the destination.
Joy knows where it came from.
Joy stands confidently against shame.