We’ve heard a lot about “joy” and “vibe” this election cycle. While I’m not writing to tell you who to vote for, I do submit that joy is not something or someone you elect to sit on the throne of your heart. Just because someone laughs a lot or laughs while jumping up and down does not mean one has joy or is filled with joy.
If you have joy, no doubt, laugher will be a part of your life and there will be a smile on your face and a spring in your step. It is possible to have laughter and not joy but not joy without laughter. We cannot elect joy, but we can select joy by bringing Jesus into our hearts.
Let me explain this truth this way. There is a difference between a thermometer and a thermostat. A thermometer responds to its atmospheric surroundings. If the temp is up, the thermometer is up; but if the temp is down, the thermometer is down. Thus, if my “hap” is up, my happiness is up; but if “hap” is down, then my happiness is down. When life is up, no doubt laughter will be up! When life is down, laughter is down or nonexistent.
It is interesting that during this election season, millions of people have gone from joy to gloom and doom and smash and bash. This is the result of the thermometer pendulum, swinging back and forth from one extreme to the other. The thermometer reflects the conditions but does not regulate them.
The "J"
While happiness is a thermometer, our thermostat is found in the word, “J.O.Y.” Joy stands for Jesus, Others, and You. When the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Philippians, in chapters one and two, he examined who Jesus is. Jesus was not elected, and you cannot impeach Him. He is not campaigning for your vote. He did not have a predecessor and will never have a successor. He is the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the Master of the mighty, the Overseer of the overcomers, the Leader of the legislators, the Head of the heroes, the Prince of princes, and the Savior of sinners and saints.
The "O"
After “J” for Jesus, there is “O” for Others. In chapter three, Paul explains who Epaphroditus was – someone who risked his life for the gospel – and challenges us to give honor to those who do so. All of us have at least three sequential circles around us, who make up the other people in our lives.
First, we have our faith and family: those whom we love and hold near and dear to our hearts. Second, we have friends and fellow servants, those with whom we work, play, worship, and problem-solve. Third, we have the foreign and forgotten: those who are beyond our daily interaction, and, at times, we simply forget about them. All of us have different “others” in our lives.
When we think about the others, we are to honor those who have risked their lives for the gospel. We are to extol those who have lifted Christ up in the marketplace and have paid a price. During this election season, find someone who has paid a price or pioneered a path of righteousness for people to come to Christ and give them honor.
The "Y"
The “Y” in J.O.Y. is about you. In chapter four of Philippians, Paul educates us on how to become a “better you.” With Jesus-Joy, we will have powerful relationships (4:1-3), prayerful rejoicing (4:4-6), positive reasoning (4:7-9), personal resilience (4:10-13), plentiful resources (4:14-19) and persuasive reflections (4:20-23). The peace of God and the God of peace will be in your life.
Joy is the thermostat. Our joy remains consistent. Paul could not redecorate the walls of the prison, but he could redecorate the walls of his heart. We can set the thermostat with Christ on the throne of our hearts. The thermometer reflects the ups and downs, but the thermostat responds to the Redeemer who regulates our hearts. Jesus never changes!
As we move daily through this election season and onto Thanksgiving and Christmas, let us remember that we cannot elect joy, vote for joy, jump for joy, yell for joy, or hate for joy. Joy comes when Jesus sits on the throne of our hearts and regulates our lives.
I was fortunate to serve with the late Dr. Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru), in the sunset years of his life (2001—2003). While pulmonary fibrosis was gradually overcoming his life, when I would come to see him in his home, later by his bed, or through a call to him by phone, I would ask, “How are you doing?
He would always say, “I am rejoicing!” I will never forget the joyful example he left for me.
My wife Sheri and I buried two children in the 1990s. In 1991, we buried our daughter Jennifer, and in 1998, we buried our son James. Our daughter lived for six weeks, and our son lived for one day. They both died in the intensive care nursery in Cox South Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. We witnessed firsthand the joy of the Lord being our strength to rebuild the walls of our emotional and physical lives. Without Jesus on the throne of hearts to regulate our lives, we would have never made it through this valley of the shadow of death.
I wrote The Joy Book: The Christian’s Abundant Joy In The Darkest Nights, because in this season of division and despair, we need to be reminded that J.O.Y. is about Jesus, Others and You. Happiness is based upon what happens, but joy is found in Jesus! Let’s move from trying to elect joy to embracing Jesus and we will find joy unspeakable and full of glory!
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/LPETTET
Dr. James O. Davis is co-founder of Global Church Network, the largest pastors network in the world with more than 2,750 Christian ministries and 700,000 churches who are synergizing and mobilizing their efforts to help finish the Great Commission by 2030. Global Church Divinity School has helped train tens of thousands of Christian leaders since 2002. He is author of many titles, including his newest, The Joy Book, just in time for Christmas.