True Joy

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

Wait. Something doesn’t make sense. It was joy for Jesus to endure the cross? I can’t even imagine what the cross must have been like for Him – my own petty issues are hard enough. But it was a joy to Him?

*****

Elizabeth Sherrill writes that, shortly after World War II, she went to a conference in Germany. At a time when most people wanted to deny that the Holocaust had even happened, a small group was trying to bring restoration and healing. As part of the program for the conference, two Nazi concentration camp survivors spoke about their experiences.

The first was a man. It wasn’t his words that caught Elizabeth’s attention; rather, it was the mere sight of him: Empty, haunted eyes. Shaking hands. A thin, flinching frame.

The second was a woman. Her white hair was piled atop her head, and she wore a simple dress and old shoes. But her face shone with joy, peace, and love.

The stories of both were the same. Both had spent years in the concentration camps, been starved and beaten, lost family members and thought they might never make it out alive. What made the difference?

*****

Later the woman who had spoken at the conference, Corrie ten Boom, wrote a book called The Hiding Place. Through all her years in the concentration camp, there was one thing that had come home in her heart:

True joy doesn’t depend on your surroundings. True joy is mostly hope.

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Psalm 27:13-14

Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him.

Corrie ten Boom endured the concentration camp, knowing that she was there because she had been working for God, and He was faithful and His mercies everlasting. Even if they could take her life, they couldn’t take her commitment to God.

We, too, can have joy as we look to all the abundant promises God has given us. He is faithful. We can believe Him. And that kind of joy is always there to sparkle in our hearts, no matter what our circumstances may be like on the outside.

“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”

John 16:22