The Fruit of the Joy: Experiencing Joy In The Hardship
by Daniel Burton
The birth of a child is a miraculous blessing in the lives of people. It is viewed as a joyous occasion with much celebration that life should continue. Yet, for all of this blessing, the process of pregnancy and child birth is a long, arduous process filled with pain. For nine months, the mother carries the child, caring for his or her needs as the child is entirely helpless and incredibly needy. Joints ache and fatigue runs rampant. Then, during the birth, the process is painful to the point where science has developed everything it can to dull the pain, and it still hurts. For all the problem of children, this is a moment of joy. Despite whatever pain or trials, the outcome and the end are sheer joy.
Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
Endure the Hardship
For many people, we live our lives as Christians with the expectations that things will be easy and happy. One of the best displays of joy I have ever seen came from a person whose mother has died suddenly overnight. No one was expecting this and the family was devastated. Some would choose to blame God during this and lose all hope. This family chose, instead, to pull together and trust God. There was no understanding, no reason, or anything that would make sense of the tragedy. Through all the tears shed, joy was present. Joy prevailed, not because the situation was good, but because God is great and victorious in even the most tragic of situations.
Joy is not happiness. It does not mean that we always smile as Christians but that we look to God during the times when the two terms cannot be interchanged for one another. Joy shines brightly during times when we endure our darkest. When everything has gone wrong and it seems like there is no hope, we can be joyful because our God is victorious. This is when joy shines brightest as we put our hope in the unchanging and victorious God. There, we gladly endure the hardships the world without losing our joy. Just as the pains of childbirth precede the miracle of human life, the pains of this world will give way to the joy of eternity when the trials and pains will be a distant and long forgotten memory.
So That The World May See Our Joy
It possible that there is an issue with me, but I have difficulty trusting a person who only smiles. This isn’t to say that they are bad people or that they are inherently untrustworthy. Yet, there is something about someone who maintains the smiling disposition and eagerly exclaims the Christian life as “sweeter than the day before!” Probably because no one actually believes this. 
We all endure difficult times where we have to cry. We struggle through walking out our faith, being ostracized for it, and living in a fallen world. Yet, as joy and happiness are fundamentally not the same, the world needs to see our joy as we struggle and as we hurt. There is simply too much we go through to smile constantly. Even Jesus wept while not losing the joy of His relationship with the Father.
The world needs to see the joy through the struggle. Our testimony to the world is not that we became Christian and everything suddenly worked out. That life is rare in scripture and rare in expression. No one will believe that we never go through difficult times but the world can see the joy reach through us during that times we all face. Our joy is rooted in the hope of eternity and the security of Christ’s victory. As the Spirit of God resides in us, this joy reaches through every aspect of our life, even though things may be difficult. What a great testimony to the God we serve that we remain joyful during the most difficult of times! Our God is so full of might and grace that nothing can push us to lose joy. Our everlasting is secure! This is the fruit of joy that comes from having the Spirit of God within us.
For more in this series, check out The Fruit of the Spirit
