August 29th Devotion

The World-Changing Power of Joy
By Jennifer Slattery

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Thessalonians 1:6

I don’t like the way our world is right now. I quit watching the news years ago because it aggravated my anxiety. Although I’ve since added them back, I deleted all social media apps off my phone for the same reason. I’ve also read certain posts with my temperature rising, my jaw clenching and my finger hovering over my screen as angry words fought to escape my brain. This used to be one of my greatest struggles. There was a time when I got into pointless arguments on the Internet with those who held vastly different beliefs. Whether I thought my “wise” words could change their worldviews or simply wanted to prove myself right, I acted not in love but in pride. My behavior also stemmed from fear.

Perhaps you can relate. With all that’s occurring in our communities, nation, and globally, it’s normal to feel, and react from, a sense of panic. But praise God, we don’t have to stay in an alarmed state. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can experience joy, even amid intense affliction and uncertainty.

Political and economic instability, relational storms, and personal hardships aren’t new. Wars, governmental corruption, disease, and numerous other challenges have plagued humans since our ancestors first rebelled against God. Jesus Himself told us to expect trouble. Yet, He also promised us joy.

As today’s verse verifies, when we receive and live out that joy, especially in circumstances that should otherwise lead to despair, people notice. Paul wrote the letter 1 Thessalonians shortly after he and his ministry partners planted the church in Thessalonica. He’d heard that the church there, unlike the one in the city from which he wrote, was thriving while enduring hardship.

This brought him great joy and might’ve helped alleviate whatever regret he felt over how he’d left them. According to Acts 17, although Paul clearly wanted to remain with the new converts in Thessalonica longer, he found himself driven from the city by a violent mob. These people, incited to rage by jealous Jews, rushed to a man’s house, searching for Paul and his companion. Not finding them, they dragged the homeowner and some other Christ-followers in front of the authorities, accused them of harboring troublemakers, forced them to pay bond, then released them. Thankfully, presumably, without harm. That night, the other believers, and likely new converts, sent Paul and his companion away. I assume for fear of their lives.

If you’ve ever watched a riot, you can imagine how frightening this all must’ve been to these new believers in Thessalonica. They understood in a way many of us in a western context never have, the cost of following Jesus. As did anyone who came to Christ after this terrifying occurrence.

Yet, they chose to imitate Paul and his team—the very men they’d hurriedly sent away, under the cover of night, for their safety. In the same way that Jesus’s disciples, and Paul, imitated Him. Scripture says Jesus endured suffering for the joy set before Him. A joy that came from Himself and His union with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Scripture tells us the Spirit produces joy within us (Galatians 5:22-23). This means it grows as we connect and yield to Him. As we do, not only does He give a supernatural joy, but He speaks assurances to our soul, reminding us of God’s power, character, mercy, and promises.

However, it’s important to note, Paul and Jesus weren’t referring to a happy giggle-fest. Nor was anyone within the Thessalonian church laughing about all they’d suffered—which I assume, based on today’s verse, extended beyond what we read in Acts 17. What they experienced went far deeper. Their joy, a word that shares the same root as grace in the original Greek, stemmed from their abiding, enduring assurance that God was with them, working through them, and would use their hardships for their good and His glory.

That, my friends, is biblical joy, a spiritual soul-state that can sit quite comfortably alongside intense sorrow. And that depth of joy, of assurance, even amid intense chaos, speaks.

Intersecting Life & Faith:
When you and I live like the loved, empowered, sustained, chosen, well-cared-for children of God that we are, the world notices. Our calm in chaos awakens their spiritual desire for the life for which they were created—not the one to which they’ve become enslaved.

Our connection to and strength and security in Christ invites others to experience a life that extends beyond today and our greatest troubles. A life of intimate union with our Savior and Creator. A life that, at times, hurts deeply but never reaches a place of utter despair because, even in severe suffering, it retains hope, rooted in the unchanging, ever-present God of hope.