Joy Requires God’s Reservoir
Joy does not come from a discouraged soul. Joy requires God’s reservoir of help. Our world needs needs a good dose of these virtues: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Most mental-health workers would agree with that statement. We would, however, sharply disagree on how to generate such virtues. If you were an atheist, your only option would be to find a way to create an environment that will either produce these qualities inside a person or release them from within a person, assuming something is blocking their release.
I spoke with a man who wished that he had love, joy, and peace in his home. While the man had great wealth, he realized that he could not find a doctor, counselor, or a retail store where he could buy love, joy, and peace. He admitted that everything he had tried in this world–money, fame, and power–had not brought happiness. These virtues are not available “over the counter.” Qualities such as love, joy, and peace are only available as a result of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a shame that many people in our world today will not accept this fact.
The Bible says these virtues are from a source out of this world. God controls an infinite supply. They will flow through the person who is cleansed from sin as his body is yielded to the Spirit of God. The result is access to a supernatural resource that a person can draw upon.
Drawing upon God is similar to drawing water. When you open a faucet, water flows out. Water has two parts: hydrogen, a gas; and oxygen, also a gas. These invisible units combine miraculously into a product called water. A glassful will quench your thirst. You can fill a tub and take a bath in it or irrigate a thousand-acre farm with it.
You can use all you want because you are drawing from a reservoir of water. All you need to do is to keep the pipes in good repair, and open the faucet. The water will flow. Amazingly, you can stop the flow of a massive reservoir of water by simply closing the faucet.
In similar fashion, when you allow Jesus to come into your life as your Savior, not only are you cleansed from your sin, but you also have access to the Spirit of God. Here is an invisible, unexplainable presence that produces visible, measurable changes in the way your body works. Your body is transformed.
Nothing in this world can cause a person to change so radically. No longer do circumstances or people determine the condition under your skin. You can now respond to the troublesome people in your life with unconditional love, joy, peace, long-suffering–kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Humanly speaking, this is an impossibility. But, by yielding yourself to the Spirit of God, an infinite, endless supply flows through you. There is enough for a minor irritation or a major tragedy.Our world needs love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; it needs a good dose of these virtues.