Deeper With Dave: Thanksgiving and Joy

A few weeks ago, I found myself standing on the sand at the ocean’s edge at 3am. Needless to say, I was the only one there. There’s nothing like a good jog in the middle of the night to give you a fresh perspective on life. And in that moment alone, I had this deep sense that God was reminding me of an important lesson on joy. It was as if he was saying, “Don’t forget to enjoy your life, Dave. I have given you so many blessings, and I am with you wherever you go. Enjoy it.”

So for the past few weeks, I’ve been trying an experiment in joy. As I wake up each morning, I’m trying to remind myself, “Enjoy this day. Enjoy God. Enjoy what he puts in front of you.” As I interact with people throughout the day, I’m trying to first enjoy them before I try to help them or fix them. And as the day comes to a close, I’m trying to stop and be grateful for what God has done during that day.

As we move into the holiday season, I want to share two things I’m learning in my experiment with joy.

The first thing I’m learning is that joy is actually central to what it means to follow Jesus. In the past, I’ve thought of joy more as a nice but unnecessary accessory to the Christian life. If someone had asked me, what does it mean to live a life of obedience to God, joy probably wouldn’t have made my top ten list. In fact, there’s been a part of me that has been almost suspicious of joy. There’s something that seems almost irresponsible about joy—joy just seems too good to be true. I mean, didn’t Christ say that we need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow him?

But lately, I’ve been struck by how central the theme of joy is in Scripture. Joy makes it to the #2 spot on Paul’s fruits of the Spirit list. And he is always reminding us to be joyful. As much as he says be obedient or be truthful or be holy, he also says be joyful always. Apparently, joy is not just a frivolous accessory but rather a central part of our Christian clothing. And Jesus himself connects obedience directly with joy. After telling his disciples to remain in his love by obeying his commands, he says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). According to him, the ultimate purpose of a life of obedience is joy—complete and perfect joy. And notice that it’s his own joy that he wants to share with us. He came as the most joyful human being who ever lived, and he came to put his own perfect joy into our hearts.

Second, I’m learning that joy is actually incredibly practical. It’s not just a nice feeling God gives us for fun; it’s actually one of the practical tools He gives us to help us walk through life. I am reminded of Nehemiah’s words to the Israelites: “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). It’s interesting to me that joy is connected with strength. And I’m beginning to learn firsthand that there is a real practical strength to being joyful. Joyful people weather life’s challenges more easily than anxious or pessimistic people. Joy keeps problems from taking us down so quickly. Joy helps us to keep going when discipline or willpower alone are not enough. And this is supremely the case when we have a “joy in the Lord” that is not tied to any specific circumstances but flows from our gratitude for who God is, regardless of circumstances.

So, as we enter the Christmas season, I invite you into this experiment of joy. Maybe God has something for you in this too. As I look back at my own experiment with joy so far, I can’t say for sure that my life has been far more fruitful, but it certainly hasn’t been less fruitful. And, at least I’m enjoying my life a whole lot more.