JOY

In the last blog post, I talked about the value of relationships and fellowship. I've been blessed with the best community here at Stanford with our campus chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Last week at FCA, I got to speak about happiness and joy, and I wanted to share it here on my blog as well. EnJOY (hehe)!

It's probably evident by the name of my blog, but my middle name is Joy. Not coincidentally, the theme of joy has been a big part of my life ever since I was a baby. My first birthday party was smiley face themed because I was such a smiley baby, so happiness and joy have both been a big part of my life; however, it wasn’t until my high school years that I distinguished the two from each other. I learned that nobody, including the smiley baby in the picture, can be happy all of the time. There’s going to be bad days, injuries, losses, pandemics, and there will be times when it is hard to smile. Or, in God's words, "there is a time for everything," whether that is weeping or laughing or mourning or dancing (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). But, what I find refreshing is that God does not call us to be happy all of the time. He calls us to something even greater than that, which is joy. And I am so excited to share more about this joy with you all!

So, I just mentioned the difference between happiness and joy, and I want to elaborate more on that. Happiness is the state of being happy. You can be happy at the beach--I am definitely happy at the beach--, you can be happy at a party, you can be happy at the top of a podium with a gold medal around your neck. And, I am going to make the assumption that everyone desires happiness. We might pursue happiness in different ways, but at the end of the day, it’s what we all want.

However, I am also going to make the assumption that we don’t all consider ourselves happy all of the time. It’s not realistic.

Happiness is fleeting. Of course, as athletes, we are happy after a win, and I am not saying that we shouldn’t be happy after a win. Celebrate that win and be happy (again, there's a season for everything). But, after a few hours, a few days, certainly a few weeks, that happiness fades. The same goes for other earthly pleasures: heavy drinking, hookups, fame, wealth, status, success. The happiness is there one moment and gone the next.

Joy, on the other hand, is eternal. It’s gladness not based on circumstances. It’s gladness on the top of the podium after a win, it’s gladness on the bottom of the podium, it’s gladness if you’re not even on the podium. It’s joy in the hills and in the valleys.

If there’s one thing track has taught me, it’s that life consists of a lot of these ups and downs. I’ve had a down, a valley, the past three track seasons. My sophomore year it was a hamstring tear, my junior year it was a pandemic, and my senior year it was an appendectomy. I mentioned earlier that we all pursue happiness in different ways. For me, it’s racing. Getting on the line and competing makes me happy. Practicing with my teammates makes me happy.

But last spring, just before the start of my senior season, I had an emergency appendectomy, and then my stomach essentially stopped working, and I spent 5 days in the hospital. When I got out of the hospital, I could barely walk, let alone run. I couldn’t do the very thing that makes me happy. I wasn’t happy to miss club nationals, I wasn’t happy to miss my last track trip with my team, and I wasn’t happy to throw up 100s of times. But, one thing I had learned from the valleys before is that while I might not be happy in my earthly circumstances, they do not have the authority to dictate my joy.

Looking back, I dare to even say that I was experiencing gladness in the hospital. I attribute that joy to knowing that God was there with me the whole time. He was present in the valley.

Psalm 16:11 says “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Earlier, I mentioned earthly pleasures, like racing, that are here today and gone tomorrow. But God promises us eternal pleasures, which is so much better than the happiness that we chase after here on earth. Note that the verse doesn’t say that God will fill us with joy when good things happen, but in His presence. That’s good news for us because God is omnipresent, meaning we can access Him and his joy at any time. Even without earthly pleasures, even when we are in the valley, we can be filled with joy.

There is no better example of joy in God’s presence than the Apostle Paul. I want to focus on Philippians, a letter that Paul writes from a prison cell as he is persecuted for his faith. There are no earthly pleasures in this jail cell, likely not much to smile or be happy about. However, Paul writes with tremendous joy. In Philippians 4:4, he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Even though his earthly circumstances are bleak, Paul cannot contain his joy or praise for the Lord because he is in God’s presence.

You might be familiar with Philippians 4 because of verse 13. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We love this verse as athletes because it empowers us to do anything and everything. I’ve seen it in Instagram captions, on my teammates’s shoes, hanging in locker rooms. It’s a great verse, but when you put it into context, it’s even greater.

Let's look at the preceding verses, starting with Philippians 4:10, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Paul touches on the hills and valleys as he talks about living in plenty or in want. While our earthly circumstances might change our happiness, they cannot change our contentment. So, looking at our favorite verse, verse 13, in a new perspective, Paul is saying that “I can be content in any earthly circumstance-- I can be joyful” because of God’s presence. And, so can we. I can be joyful with a torn hamstring, I can be joyful during a pandemic, I can be joyful in the hospital... I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Before I conclude, I want to make one point clear. I really don’t think that Paul decided one day that he was going to be joyful and so he was joyful. And we can’t expect ourselves to do that either, to turn on joy like it is a switch. Joy is gladness not based on circumstance, it’s gladness based on God’s presence. So, in order to be joyful, we need to understand what it means to be in God's presence. God’s presence is the Holy Spirit living within us. It’s important to note that joy is a fruit of the spirit, a good fruit that we bear when we have the Holy Spirit present within us.

So, if we want to be more joyful, to be like Paul, to be content whatever the circumstance, we need to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives. Pray to God that we will bear good fruit. It’s a process--not instantaneous. And we can’t do it alone, we need to ask God for his assistance, for his presence inside of us that will bring forth joy and the other fruits of the spirit.

Practically speaking, this looks like an invitation. Invite God into your days, into your practices, into your classes, into your life. It can look like starting your day off with a devotional or it can look like a prayer before a game, but I encourage you not to compartmentalize. God wants to be in relationship with us every second of every day, we just need to invite him into that. A simple, “God, I invite your Holy Spirit into me. I invite you into this test, into this last rep, into my day.”

So, as you go about this week, I pray that God's presence will go with you and that you will be filled with His presence.

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A few days after I got to share at FCA, my grandfather passed away. Again, I'm in the valley. My earthly circumstance is full of mourning and grief. Still, I rejoice in the Lord because He is present with me and my family. And I smile when I think about the eternal pleasures that my grandpa is experiencing. He is truly in God's presence in Heaven, and I cannot imagine how full of joy he is.

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