Joy - yaaayyy... and YAAAYYY!!!
Growing up in a family which made a big deal of celebrating all our birthdays, and with a lot of doting aunts and uncles, meant birthdays were often accompanied by toys! Stars Wars, He-man, then Mask, Centurions, then Transformers...
I remember that I once hurt my knee falling down at school, and the bandage got all stuck in the wound, and I dramatically screamed my lungs out as my aunts pulled the bandage off the scab one painful thread at a time.The side benefit was that my aunt turned up that evening with a gigantic Castle Grayskull set to cheer me up :D I think it's fair to say most of us were not wealthy, but what my parents and extended family were, was incredibly generous.
Those birthdays were really full of "YAAAYYY!!!!" joy.
Today, birthdays are quite a bit more mellow, except when my younger cell members occasionally get a bit excited and throw a party :D But there are definitely still a lot of YAAAYYY! moments.When we see our friends over in Batam, play games, or one time, got the whole school over to a waterpark. That was a fantastic YAAAYYY!!
When friends discover the God who loves them and we celebrate at their baptism. Those are always over-the-moon YAAAYYY! moments.
When friends have their prayers answered for their family members, for recovery from illness, for jobs, for their partners and children, and we give thanks together - those are definitely big YAAAYYY! times too.
The Bible is mostly written in Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament). In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word that is most often translated as joy in English is שמחה / "simchah", which is a deep joy that is associated with celebration. It isn't merely an internal feeling, but something expressed outwardly. It is communal.So when the book of Isaiah says in Isaiah 55:11-12 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands", that's celebratory YAAAYYY! joy.
Similarly, when the psalmist says in Psalm 126:5 "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy", that's also celebratory YAAAYYY! joy.
It's unsurprising that this YAAAYYY! joy is an important part of the Old Testament. God blesses Abraham and Sarah after years of barrenness with a son - YAAAYY!!! God gathers his people out of slavery in Egypt - YAAAY!!!God institutes all the festivals to celebrate his goodness - YAAAYYY! God defeats Goliath and the Philistines through David who will become king - YAAAYYY! God was building a community of His people, and each step along the way, it was important for them to celebrate as one people.
But there is another type of joy of course. In the Greek New Testament, the word that is most often translated as joy in English is χαρά / "chara", which is also a deep joy, but is typically associated with a deep, abiding inner gladness or delight, beyond momentary happiness. Sort of like a deeply satisfied "yaaayyy...", even in the midst of trial and difficulty.When the apostle James says in James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy, my brother and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds" - that is a yaaayyy... joy.
When the writer says in Hebrews 12:1-2 "[we fix] our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame..." - Jesus had a yaaayyy... joy.
And it is unsurprising that yaayyy... joy is an important part of the New Testament, because for basically all of it, the Jesus, his disciples, Peter, Paul, and all the others, and the whole church are under severe persecution and threat of arrest and execution, from their own people and the Romans. But despite the surrounding circumstances, they had joy.So both YAAAYYY! and yaaayyy... are important. In good times - we go "YAAAYYY!" together with our whole family and community. We don't just go "yaaayyy..." inside. We celebrate with those we love and who love us. By this, we share God's goodness, we encourage each other, and everyone can see, wow, God's people have YAAAYYY! joy.
In tough times, it's kind of unreasonable to expect us to go "YAAAYYY!". But we still go "yaaayyy..." because the God who loves us is unshakeable. And so our joy in Him is deep-seated and unshakeable too. By this, we are strengthened in the midst of difficulty, and everyone can see, wow, even when times are tough, God's people have yaaayyy... joy.
I'm grateful for friends and family with whom I can celebrate my YAAAYYY! moments with God. And I'm grateful for the God who loves me so much that I can deeply rejoice yaaayyy... even in the worst of times.And my birthday wish is that everyone who reads this will know the same joy that I have had the great privilege of experiencing, and is available for us all! God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!
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