Charles Dickens’ famous work A Tale of Two Cities begins this way: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” M. Scott Peck’s influential book The Road Less Traveled opens with, “Life is difficult.” As we near the end of the age, we all probably agree with both of those sentiments.
Life is difficult in Satan’s world. It’s disheartening to see nations split apart politically. At every turn, there are differences of opinion, and children are being indoctrinated with confusion on gender identity and every other evil lifestyle. The cost of living has gone up, which makes it much harder for individuals who depend on a fixed income. The world is polluted in so many ways, including our food supply and the environment.
The end of the age is, in a way, the worst of times—yet it’s also the best of times.
How so? Because we have the vision of the coming Kingdom of God, just over the horizon in time. We have the blessing of being offered protection if we’re close to God. We have the potential blessing of being part of His firstfruits, seeing the transition from the age of Satan to the age of the family and government of God. We have the potential to receive eternal life in a few short years. We do live in a time of trouble, but we have that tremendous blessing of looking forward to what God has offered us. If we believe in and live God’s way of life, we will prove to Him that we can be trusted to teach others in the years ahead, in the family of God.
With these truths in mind, we find the keys to how we can have a sense of joy during such a difficult and dangerous age. Let’s examine how, even as we enter the worst times in all human history, we can have not only a sense of joy, but great joy in our lives.
What Is Joy?
Do you have great joy in your life, right now? Many of us, perhaps most, would say, “No.” How can we say we have great joy when there are so many things working against us, so many things that are opposed to our living God’s way of life in Satan’s world?
Part of the problem comes from confusing joy with happiness. Happiness is an emotion—it changes often. God never intended us, as human beings, to be in an emotional state of happiness all the time. After all, we’re being trained to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13). If we really love God and see what sin does to people’s lives, we are sure to enter states of unhappiness sometimes as we live in this sinful world.
Joy, on the other hand, is different from an emotion—it’s a fruit of God’s Spirit, a part of His mindset, a piece of who He is. Like the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, joy manifests in us when we are close to God. It comes from Him. He is always expressing it, because He has joy over His creation, over adding children to His family.
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works” (Psalm 104:31). What does rejoice mean? It means to express joy. If we just bottle joy up, we’re not really reflecting it. God experiences joy in what He is doing, and we should, too. Even the angels shouted for joy at the creation of the universe (Job 38:4–7). They knew it was something special.
Joy is part of the bigger plan of God. If we know we’re right with God, it gives us joy to know that we’re part of His purpose. We’re on board with God. We have a bright future. It’s about the big picture, not what’s happening right now around us.
We see the big picture of what God is doing: Christ said that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). If you know you’re walking with God and are a part of His plan, you know that nothing in your life can destroy that.
God expects us to develop a sense of joy in our lives, even in a difficult age. If anyone could be excused from having joy, it would have been Christ, knowing He was going to be tortured and die. But notice: Just hours before He died, Christ said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). He knew what would transpire, but He was thinking of the big picture. His death was part of God’s plan, and He knew it was not the end: There was a future beyond it—not just for Him, but for all of us to be born into the family of God at the resurrection.
Christ was talking about the profound joy we can have from knowing God’s plan—knowing about the resurrection to eternal life, knowing there will be no more death or sorrow or pain, and knowing that it all applies to us. God is not looking for people who are forever disheartened because of their circumstances. He’s looking for people who have a vision of their ultimate destiny, who understand their potential. Part of our assignment in developing God’s character is to develop a mindset of joy in the completion of God’s plan.
No Joy Without Gratitude
We need to realize that joy and gratitude toward God are inextricable from each other; we have true joy when we are supremely grateful to God for all He has done for us and all He offers us in the future.
People in the world always want more—more wealth, more territory, more power. But disciples of Christ have a different focus, because “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3–4). To lust is essentially to wish you had something God does not want you to have. If we have very little joy in life, we should ask, Have I been grateful? What am I grateful for?
We should be grateful that God has personally called us and chosen us—individually invited us to receive God’s Spirit and to participate with Him as He fashions us and prepares us for a place in His Kingdom and family. None of us earn that; we weren’t chosen because we were so brilliant and righteous and lived such wonderful lives up to that point. God called and chose each of us for His own reasons—no one comes to Christ without the Father’s call (John 6:44).
That is an amazing privilege to think about—God has offered us life on His plane of existence, and He has overlooked, in His mercy, so many times when we have yielded to our sinful nature. We will be members of His “species”—members of the actual family of God, fully glorified, as Christ was glorified at His resurrection. We will never be equal in authority to God the Father or to Jesus Christ, but we will always be able to contribute and accomplish great things in the future that is eternity.
Are you grateful for God’s creation, the incredible beauty and vastness of the universe? Eventually, we’ll all have a part in that universe—not just planet Earth. Human beings are struggling to get to Mars, but that’s just the tiniest baby step compared to what God has in mind for us.
We’re told, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). In other words, we are to be like-minded. Are you grateful to God for the blessings He grants to others? What about the blessings He will grant to others through you? We have the potential to help bring others into the family of God—now, by preaching the Gospel, but also in the Millennium and in the Second Resurrection. Isn’t that something to be grateful for—perfect job satisfaction in the family of God?
Gratitude is tremendously important. It’s hard to be thankful and miserable at the same time; if we’re truly thankful for the future, it’s hard to be miserable in the present. What is happening in our lives today is an infinitesimal piece of the big picture—and focusing on it degrades our joy.
Repentance Brings Joy
When we have drifted from God’s intention for us—to any degree—it hampers our joy. Satan has deceived the whole world, and even those of us with God’s Spirit are often deceived in one way or another about our own actions, thoughts, words, attitudes, and emotions. The world can still influence us, as it is full of Satan’s enticements.
Notice David’s approach to God—he lost the joy of being close to his Creator, and he asked God to help him restore it. “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,” he prayed, “and uphold me by Your generous spirit” (Psalm 51:12). We need to ask God to help us see the big picture and be excited about what He is offering, not just be depressed in the present.
David realized that he had drifted far from God, had become too entangled in the world. He had lost sight of God’s purpose in his life, had become distracted and blind, and had sought pleasure in a horrendous sin. But when he realized that he had abandoned God, he repented; he turned again to God, disgusted with himself, and asked God to restore the joy of His salvation.
If we need the joy of our salvation restored, it could be that we’re still too focused on the pleasures of this world. We can become focused on how much we have materially, forgetting that, in time, we will inherit the entire earth (Psalm 37:11, 22; Matthew 5:5). We can become discouraged by our poor health, forgetting that God promises us perfect health when we are born into His family. As Mr. Adam West reminded us in this year’s May–June Living Church News, God is the One who makes whole. And, while it’s good to mourn the loss of a loved one, if we fall into despondency over it we may be forgetting that God’s promise of resurrection applies to all human beings; if we can’t expect to see our loved ones again in the first resurrection, we can almost certainly expect to see them in the second.
As human beings, it’s easy for all of us to be self-absorbed at times. We can’t allow self-pity to stop us from finding joy in the big picture—what God is doing in our lives to lead us into a glorious future. I recall that, years ago, in the Worldwide Church of God, there was an older lady who consistently complained, saying things like, “There’s not enough love in the Church.” But what she really meant was that there weren’t enough people giving to and serving her. That was her mindset—and she lived a joyless life. On the other hand, I remember another older widow who had very little, living in what could be called a shack—yet she always seemed to have joy, even though she had virtually nothing materially. She knew the Kingdom of God was coming.
Whatever we lack, that lack is only temporary. It’s not forever. God is looking at what will be permanent—building within us a consistency He can trust.
Looking to the Future
David asked God to restore the joy of his salvation. If we need the same joy to be restored in us, it means we have—at least somewhat—lost our joy in what God is offering, of what He is doing. How real is it to us?
We all need vision—the ability to see, in our mind’s eye, the future reality of the Kingdom of God on earth. If it is not real to us, and if our place in it is not real to us, we will never be motivated as we need to be. Do you see clearly to Christ’s return, to your becoming a born member of the family of God? Vision is the ability to make that reality more real to you than your present situation.
Notice a few of Jesus Christ’s words on this subject:
The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light (Luke 11:34–36).
When our minds are set on the Kingdom of God, our bodies are full of light, and we live accordingly. But when we’re focused on the negative aspects of life in this world, when our vision is cloudy, we are full of darkness—we are off track, and there is not much joy. We need to make sure we see the big picture and know where we are heading, and not just live in the present.
In effect, Jesus was saying, When your vision is clear, your whole life is full of light. Life goes better with a godly mindset—no matter what’s happening right now, you know you are a part of God’s purpose and His plan. You have a wonderful future to anticipate.
Spiritual vision gives greater significance and meaning to what might otherwise seem like the mundane details of our lives. By way of analogy, not many of us would normally be excited about filling bags with sand or dirt—but we would probably be more enthusiastic about doing it if we knew we had to protect our homes and families from a major, imminent flood. The same is true with our lives in general. We have to anticipate what’s coming—protection that comes from the great God as He accomplishes His purpose and brings the world to a new age.
All too often, we may feel that our daily lives are unimportant. But as we look at the examples of spiritual heroes of faith, both in Scripture and in the Church today, without exception they share the characteristic of spiritual vision. It motivates as nothing else can.
This vision reminds me of lyrics written years ago by Johnny Nash: “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s going to be a bright, bright, sunshiny day.” When we have vision, we still have obstacles in our way, but they become less significant the more we make the Kingdom of God our focus, the more we let it consume our worldview. As we do so, the Kingdom becomes more than our theology—it becomes our ultimate reality, more real to us than our present lives.
If we’re going to have real joy in our lives now, we must catch the vision of our lives then, in the coming Kingdom of God, when we will receive even greater joy from working with people and changing their lives, watching them become successful in every way. That will be job satisfaction to the extreme, and it should become so real to us that we live for the coming Kingdom of God. It should be our reason for living—not a peripheral goal, but an overriding goal.
Joy in What Is Eternal
Speaking to the Corinthian brethren—who, like you and me, had many difficulties in their lives—the Apostle Paul addressed a fundamental truth:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).
The aging process is largely a dying process—that’s simply the way organized energy works, according to the laws of physics. Yet, inwardly, we are being made new every day as we gain insight and deeper understanding. As we see new ways to grow and pursue that growth, we’re brought closer to the mind of God—made new.
We might be tempted to object to Paul calling our troubles a “light affliction.” To us, they can feel very heavy! But they are all temporary, because this very life in the flesh is temporary.
And whatever is temporary is not truly long-term—not in the face of eternity. We can see the temporary with our physical eyes and can easily become focused on our jobs, our homes, and whatever the world offers us. But those will not last. When we focus on the eternal things, those we can now only see in our mind’s eye, we open ourselves up to true joy, because we know that what we see is permanent satisfaction and fulfillment.
This life is merely training for our next responsibility as members of the Kingdom of God—to teach others God’s way of life, watching them succeed in their families and develop their bright futures. And as we find joy in this life, even when our circumstances are painful, we show God that we believe Him—not just believe He exists, but believe what He says. There is a big difference between believing in God and believing God: “Even the demons believe—and tremble” (James 2:19).
We must believe that, if we endure to the end, God will give us eternal life—and not only eternal life, but eternal energy, health, and happiness. Christ said, “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). Christ knew that there would be great sadness at His death, so He assured His disciples, When I see you again, you are going to express intense joy. You are going to be excited. You are going to realize how real all of this is. And of course, that realization propelled their lives from there on, interacting with the resurrected reality of Christ.
Jesus said that no one could take away the joy He would give His disciples, and the same is true for us; if we are focused on Him, no one will be able to ruin our joy, our ability to see the big picture of what God has offered us. This gives us the true joy that is a fruit of God’s Spirit, and God is entirely willing to provide that fruit. None of Satan’s tactics can take it from us unless we allow them to do so.
Joy in Our Potential
The Apostle Peter gives us a good overview:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6–9).
To rejoice is to express joy—joy that manifests in our lives, in our attitudes and demeanors. We all have trials as we live in Satan’s world, because we’re being trained to reject that world and develop a faith that has been purged of all impurities. God will reveal the full extent of what He is developing in each of us when we are glorified as His sons and daughters at Christ’s return.
Physical gold is very pretty, but most of its value comes from what we human beings attach to it. The character we are building, the spiritual gold, has tremendous inherent value, so it truly puts physical gold to shame. Physical gold is purified by fire, driving off its impurities—but spiritual gold is purified when we make right decisions, even in difficult circumstances, and cast out our own wrong thinking.
Though none of us have ever seen Christ visually, we’ve experienced His presence in our lives, which gives us tremendous hope for the future. The world can’t understand this hope right now, nor the joy that comes from it, but we can be assured that it will understand one day—because God keeps His word. He has offered us the blessings of sonship in His family and of eternal life—eternal joy—and we can have rock-solid confidence in the reality of His invincible plan.
If we endure to the end, we are guaranteed that Christ will complete His work in us and bring us into God’s own family (Philippians 1:6). We can all develop great joy in our lives if we keep our minds focused on the incredible potential that God has offered to every single one of us.