Feeling It
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
Joy – A familiar word. An unfamiliar experience. That’s charas, from the Greek chairo, “to rejoice,” the root word of “joy, grace, bless, favor, thanksgiving,” and “give freely.” We all know the concept. Perhaps at moments in our lives we have tasted some of these things. But as a regular fact of everyday living, most of us know charas as a theological fact, not a continuous feeling. Our lives seem to be tipped to the side of disappointment, discouragement and despair, not joy, rejoicing and blessing. Perhaps we can learn something about our circumstances by looking closely at this statement about Yeshua.
Notice what the author says. Yeshua saw joy as the end of the journey. Charas was the expected result of obedience. It wasn’t the necessary concomitant of everyday living. In the Tanakh, joy is something experienced and expressed by the whole person. Its aim is communal. It is intended to be shared. When the author of Hebrews claims that Yeshua endured suffering because he saw the goal as triumphant jubilation and delight, the statement is not personal. It isn’t Yeshua’s own isolated human experience that is in play. It is the deepest commitment to the whole creation that motivates his dedication. In other words, despite the obvious difficulties, and in Yeshua’s case that includes torture and death, life is not about you and me, separate surviving individuals. Life is about the restoration that God is accomplishing through all that we endure. There is an end to this; an end so glorious, so blissful, so triumphant that nothing we must undergo can detract from it. It is about everything. Everyone. It is about the return to the great harmony of God’s creative acts. It is more than we can even imagine.
That’s the root of joy. And perhaps, because we are so easily diverted from this unimaginable conclusion, we get caught in the personal disjunction between God’s good plans and our present predicament. Perhaps joy is rare because we aren’t looking for it.
Suppose that today you and I determined to value each and every circumstance as part of the pathway toward full restoration of the universe. Suppose that instead of reacting with frustration when our particular objects don’t seem to be accomplished, we stop—and remember that God’s good purposes are weaving through every act and every experience in our lives and in the lives of all His creatures. Suppose we deliberately imagined just how these temporal roadblocks could be rearranged by the divine hand so that perfect peace would come to the whole. Do you suppose we could find a glimmer of charas in that? Do you suppose we might turn discouragement into excitement, despair into direction?
I wonder if joy isn’t really there all the time, but we don’t feel it because we are too busy with ourselves.
Topical Index: joy, charas, Hebrews 12:2
AN ODD REQUEST – well, maybe not too odd.
Rosanne and I will be in Italy in May. There are a few things we need to look into while we are there, but we don’t want to be in hotels. We would like to find a local apartment to rent in the Reggio Emilia area. But so far, no luck on line. Perhaps one of you knows someone, or knows something about this area and we could communicate with him/her. That would be a big help. Just email me: skipmoen@mac.com
Take a look at Isaiah 53, specially verses 10 and 11…
10
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11
After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:10-11 NIV
Joy = Seeing His Offspring, Prolonging His Days, Lord’s Will Prospering in His Hand, Seeing Light of Life, Being Satisfied = Light at the end of the tunnel
What if it is to be the “joy of the Lord” that is to be our strength? It is impossible, when things are absolutely terrible, for the flesh to conjure up any joy whatsoever, but joy we must have, for we are told that it is joy that gives us strength.
The years I had no ‘feel-good” juices; the years I was flatlining serotonin, adrenalin and other good neurotransmitters, I did not have bodily ‘rewards’, or incentives to keep on keeping on, but I did anyway. How? I did it for “the joy that was before me”. I did it to hear “well done thou good and faithful servant”, too. But, in my darkest days, I would feel a hand on me that gave me a terrible sense of purpose, and that purpose would give me strength, and the memory of that sense of purpose and strength that was NOT MINE even today – I would trade it for the best earthly day I enjoy. Why? As terrible as it was, it was still BETTER, in a way I cannot describe. It was definitely Someone Else’s joy I was running on.
I know now that when all earthly mechanisms and methods are absent, it is still possible to experience joy, but the joy that is NOT mine is the better stuff. I miss that heavy glory, even though there is nothing in my flesh that does.
Skip, you touched on this life’s hidden gem!
Keep your eye on the prize!
Joy is always available, if you know it’s just tucked behind
our moments of preoccupation.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
P.S. Praying for the perfect apartment in Italy.
As much as I enjoy Skip’s messages in Today’s Word, I always look forward to the reflections which follow. Thank you to all who post their comments here. Know that they offer encouragement, strength, and JOY for the journey. Blessings!
Joy at the end of the road…
Is that not why people believe, hope and endure. Seems like the author implies that Yeshua revealed his human side here. Had he been a divine entity these reasons would make no difference…
Other than the prophetic scriptures and the post Yeshua writings what did Yeshua self reveal?
Quick reflection nothing more than uniting again at the throne of God in the dwelling he is preparing in God’s mansion…
How did the author come to this conclusion.
I have two sets of questions:
First –
“…the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, but righteousness and shalom and joy in the Ruach ha-Kodesh.” [Rom 14:17]
Is it in keeping with the Hebrew mind-set to think that joy is conditional upon shalom and shalom is conditional upon righteousness? In other words, could it be said that we cannot experience true shalom apart from being righteous, and we cannot experience true joy apart from shalom? Can we interpret this verse as implying that the order for the process of the full coming of His kingdom is sequential and culminates in joy inexpressible and full of esteem (“glory)”? If we are not truly righteous, we cannot truly know shalom? And if we do not truly know shalom, we cannot truly experience joy? The degree to which we are righteous like Him, is the degree to which we can experience His shalom. And the degree to which we have have His shalom, is the degree to which we can experience His joy.
We’ve all read the saying:
“No Yeshua. No peace. Know Yeshua. Know peace.”
Could it not also be said:
“No Yeshua. No righteousness. Know Yeshua. Know righteousness.”
And:
“No Yeshua. No Joy. Know Yeshua. Know Joy.”
And finally:
“No Yeshua. No righteousness, peace, or joy. Know Yeshua. Know righteousness, peace, and joy.” OR…..”Know righteousness, then you’ll know peace, and then you’ll know joy.”
Now my second set of questions:
Also, because it is communal, I expect Yeshua, Himself, does not yet know the perfect fullness of joy either, for now, though He is seated at the right hand of the Father, He sits there in intercession for us, which means He bears our burdens and we still grieve Him by our sin. Right? And He learned obedience through the things He suffered, and on earth His suffering ended at His crucifixion. However, being that He is our great high priest, He is still suffering is He not? And therefore He may still be learning obedience to the Father and yet to experience the full pleasure and joy of the Father because all things are not yet restored and handed back over to the Father. If that is true, wouldn’t it mean that neither He nor we can experience the perfect fullness of joy until after the millennial reign?
Not sequential in a linear sense, but in a circular sense, like an ever progressing, ascending, expanding spiral. RIGHTEOUSNESS > SHALOM > JOY
As long as I can keep in mind that everything that happens is being used by HaShem to bring about the restoration of all things, a conclusion so overwhelmingly awesome and full of joy unimaginable, I can remember to receive with gratitude all things. And in that, I’m free.