Choose joy,” they say. But how?

My friend Erik just marked a bittersweet anniversary, a decade passed since a snowboarding accident left him paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair. Yesterday Erik wrote this:

“It was ten years ago today that I lost my ability to walk. As I was reflecting earlier on the last decade, my life has brought me to a place I could not have imagined, but I am so full of joy. I wonder if I would’ve found this joy had I not gotten hurt . . .”

Mind blown. I often mistakenly think of joy as those moments when my happiness hits a homerun, but Erik’s story reminds me that happiness and joy don’t even originate in the same ballpark. Happiness comes and goes. We can’t bank on it.

The perfect meal! But, whoops, now it’s gone.

My child’s problem resolved! But, wait for it… here comes yet another problem to pray them through.

A hammock in the shade! But now the temperature dropped, and my neck’s got a kink.

Legs to walk! Well, until I’m older. Or injured. Or afflicted with a degenerative disease.

In quite an other ballpark, we find the genesis of joy. Or chara in the Greek. Chara can be rendered “delight in God’s grace.” Or my favorite—“grace recognized.”

Joy may be a noun, but it points to an active awareness of God’s grace over our lives.

Here’s another way I’ve heard it said: Joy is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the hearts of those who know all is well between themselves and the Lord. See it there again? Joy, sparked by a knowing!

Also, joy and rejoicing are two sides of the same coin. Inseparable. You’ll never open your pantry and find joy just sitting there lifelessly on a shelf. It’s only ever dancing inside the heart, because it’s the good feeling you get when you’re rejoicing.

My joy and the capital-S Source of my joy are soldered together like my wedding ring set.

So choosing joy doesn’t mean trying to conjure up some positive mental condition. Nor does it require we deny our suffering.

Rather, it’s glimpsing God’s loveliness right in the midst of what appears dull and hopeless. Noticing how he’s making us and those we love, lovelier. Remembering we’re all just walking each other Home.

[bctt tweet=”Joy is glimpsing God’s loveliness right in the midst of what appears dull and hopeless. Noticing how he’s making us and those we love, lovelier.” username=”KitTosello”]

Erik’s early designs for the happy life didn’t shake out. Not even close. Yet now he’s able to see the grace in days spent working on his hot rods, teaching music, and leading worship at our church. Doing those things makes him happy. But noticing the gift, the grace, sparks his joy!

Happiness happens. But joy abides.

I once had the honor to travel with and serve next to Erik on a mission trip to Mexico. I could tell he didn’t relish being so dependent on others to get him from A to B. To set up his bed and whatnot. Yet he submitted to whatever was required and served wholeheartedly.

Erik knows joy, as much because of his daily suffering as in spite of it. We can too, if we choose.

One particular Scripture means so much to Erik he had the reference tattooed in red letters down his arm. Which made me want to look it up.

“I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” -Acts 20:24

This, spoken by the apostle Paul, who knew suffering beyond anything you or I will ever likely experience.

In the past year, I’ve often heard the haunting song of joy mixed with lament. From a friend who was suddenly widowed. And from another, who lost her beautiful boy to suicide. Living on the better side of fifty, I expect I’ll only become better acquainted with this song as years flow by. And, by God’s grace, learn to sing it more winsomely myself.

As Spirit-indwelled followers of Jesus, we see beyond the veil. We can choose to look above and beyond our happiness-obsessed selves and the shifting details of our lives to focus on the unshakeable joy set before us.

We can jump for joy, without even legs!

Lord, today move our eyes from what appears to be true about our circumstances, to what we know to be true about you. Thank you for forging us into receptacles of soul-deep joy. And for being the headwaters from which joy springs.

Your turn. I’m curious, what brings you deep-down joy today? Who granted it to you?

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I often link up with other faith writers such as Tea & Word Tuesday, Tell His Story, Cheerleaders of Faith, Let’s Have Coffee, and Wellness Wednesday.