“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain
The Look of Joy
Always be full of joy in the. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do (Philippians 4:4-5 NLT).
Last Wednesday, Barbara and I were co-teaching the book of James to a small group. After spending an hour talking about the book, we barely finished James 1:2, which tells us to consider it an opportunity for great joy when troubles come our way. Doesn’t that sound easy and fun?
While Barbara led the group discussion around the question, “What does joy look like?” I meandered over to Philippians 4. I knew it had some good stuff to say about joy, so I found the above passage I wanted and read it to the group. And as soon as I did, I knew it was going to bother me.
Although Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison, he still finds a way to be joyful. I didn’t say he was enjoying his stay in prison, but that he chose joy as his attitude. So far, so good. Paul is a better man than I am, but that is not what struck me. What struck me is what I call “The Look of Joy.” We’ll often ask what love looks like, and there is even a song called, “The Look of Love.” But what about joy? Barbara asked, “What does joy look like?” According to Philippians 4:5, joy looks like “consideration.”
That is when I got bothered. Continue Reading
The phone call came, as they usually do, at an inconvenient time. It was my mom, calling from Mississippi, telling me in Baton Rouge that my dad was in the hospital in California and had cancer. This was definitely not convenient. I called my dad and told him I was flying out in a couple of days to see him. He said he was looking forward to my visit.
Please understand – it is not that I dislike Jesus. Jesus is still my Lord and Savior (much to the surprise of a few people who know me, I’m sure). The problem I’m having is with Paul and his whole joyful attitude theme. It is starting to get on my nerves, because sometimes I just don’t WANT to be joyful. I feel it is my RIGHT to complain about my circumstances, and I want a group of sympathetic ears to gather around me, pat me on the back and tell me it’ll all be “okay.” Instead, I read the book of Philippians and in place of a pat on the back, I get a kick in the pants.
When I was in Bible College, one of the key phrases that flowed from the mouths of those studying for the ministry was, “I just want to know God’s will for my life.” This is a fair and noble goal, to be sure, an ambition worthy of both princes and paupers alike. But in the twenty something years since my graduation, I’ve come to see that finding God’s will is both simple and profound, and like most things about God, it comes at a price.
