“Joy Indestructible” Devotion by Madison Pinto, ASU Campus Ministry

"There are many who say, 'Who will show us some good?' Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!' You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." Psalm 4:6-7

Human beings exist in the present, but they often live in the past or in the future. I can't even begin to tell you how many of my thoughts live in other places other than today. I dream about the places I'll go, the people I'll meet, the person I might someday marry, the children I might someday have. Particularly in harder seasons, my mind is drawn into these fantasies. Sometimes, I believe that if I was there, then I would finally feel joyful all the time.

During times of plenty, joy does abound, but Scripture promises that God puts more joy within our hearts today than what we will find in our metaphorical "harvests." And if God gives us more joy today than in the seasons we long for, then we can be as joyful today as we can be any day of our lives.

For me this means that I can be as joyful today as a single woman as I can be someday as a wife and a mother. I can be as joyful today with my support-raised missionary salary as I could be someday with something more stable. I can be as happy today living in Phoenix, Arizona, as I could be someday traveling to the exotic places on my bucket list. The promise of joy is not for someday but for today.

This kind of joy does not mean that you manufacture happy feelings during seasons of suffering. It does not mean you silently accept the circumstances dealt to you, all the while grumbling in your heart. Before he speaks of joy in this psalm, David prays. “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief in when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” (v. 1) He still pleads with God. He still asks for relief. He still cries out for God to deliver Him. However, David's joy is not rooted in how God chooses to answer him. Instead, David finds joy in the midst of suffering, and he praises God even when pain tempts him to do otherwise. Therefore, the purpose of prayer is not for God to grant your requests so that you may have joy, but for God to transform your heart so that at all times, you may be joyful.

This joy is untouchable by the stains of our circumstances.
It is joy indestructible.
Maddie

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