To Encourage You

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

Two words that are closely linked in Scripture are “glory” and “joy.”  One of the best definitions I’ve ever heard for the word “glory” is “a manifestation of the greatness of God.”  It comes in many forms.  One of them is in the creation.   You’ve heard it said that “a photo doesn’t do it justice.” In other words, so often what we see in the glorious beauty of God’s creation, be it the beauty of a sunset, the flight of a graceful bird, or the grandeur of a mountain range, is beyond anything we can put into words or capture in a photo. In short, such things give us great joy. 

Then there is the glory of God’s Word.  As we study it and the glory of God’s infinite and divine Truth dawns on us, we become like those disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 whose “hearts burned within them” as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them.  That burning in the heart is nothing more than another way of describing joy. 

Then, as you see someone’s life transformed by God, which is just another thing that brings God great glory, it brings you great joy, especially if you’ve been praying for just that thing to happen in that person’s life.  That was Paul’s reaction as he spoke of the Thessalonian church with these words: “You are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:20). 

That’s always the way it works.  Anything that brings God great glory brings those who love God great joy.  What a key truth in a society that is so filled with joylessness, despair, and depression – which are all the very opposite of joy. 

So, do you want joy in your life?  The path to it is always the glory of God.  On the other hand, anything that detracts from that glory will always, eventually, bring just the opposite.  Obedience to God’s Word in any area of life will always eventually culminate in joy.  Disobedience always robs joy, eventually.  This is important to remember in the midst of the trials and temptations of life. 

So often in Scripture, particularly in the Psalms, the psalmist struggles with his emotions as he sees the wicked prosper while he, in spite of living to glorify God, has nothing but trouble and hardship in his life. However, whenever he turns his thoughts to the glorious promises of God’s Word, inevitably his heart is lifted as he realizes the dismal ending to which the path of the wicked will always lead and the glorious end for the righteous. 

Look at the example of Jesus as He suffered on the cross and yet had the strength to rejoice in spite of it all. It is this very example that we are to look to in our own struggles as believers, as the book of Hebrews tells us so well with these words:  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).  It is Jesus seated at God’s right hand that is a picture of the eternal glory that He shares with the Father.  This is the very thing Jesus prayed about as He faced His coming death on the cross when He prayed these words: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). And wonder of wonders, His prayer was not only that He would receive this glory, but that we who believe in Him would be able to see it with our own eyes one day. Listen as He prays, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).  And surely one reason He prayed this is that He knows that “in your (i.e., in God’s) presence, there is fulness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). 

The glory of God and the joy of the believer: they are inextricably linked such that the fulfillment of the first always leads to the second.  It’s the key to joy that God has provided for us in His Word. No wonder Paul could say from prison “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Paul knew through his own experience that such joy was possible, but it is only possible as we rejoice in the Lord, i.e., in His great glory. 

So, do you want joy?  The key is right here: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). God’s glory and our joy, it’s an inextricable link.