Episode 99 – Deep Down Joy

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Welcome to a podcast designed to bring biblical encouragement to your weary soul. We are so glad you’re listening and we pray God blesses you and strengthens you in your walk with him. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is brought to you by the cooperative efforts of Sweet Selah Ministries and Word Radio. Sit back and enjoy.

Nicole (00:28):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. We are exploring what it means to live a fruit filled life this season. We weren’t created just to slog through our days. Nope. God created us on purpose for a purpose. He gives us the great blessing of being able to bear fruit in his kingdom. We’ve explored what it means to bear genuine fruit, and a whole lot of that is wrapped up in being filled with God’s Spirit so he can put into us the Christian character that enables us to not just survive, but thrive in this messy world. We looked at the beautiful fruit of love last week. No one will want to hear the good news of the gospel from us unless they first know they’re loved. So much of what we convey to people isn’t our words as much as our character, who we are. So today we’re going to look at the fruit of Joy. This is episode 99, Deep Down Joy. Sharon, I think I might know, but what gave you the idea for this title?

Sharon (01:25):

Well, did you ever sing that Sunday school song, ‘I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart’?

Nicole (01:30):

Yes. I love that one.

Sharon (01:32):

‘Down in my heart to stay’.

Nicole (01:33):

Yes.

Sharon (01:34):

That one. It’s such a fun song to sing. And the part that I was focused on when I chose this title was the ‘down in my heart, deep down in my heart’ part, because joy, unlike being happy, is not always a surface thing. It’s deep. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) And it can remain even when the circumstances of life would tell us we could not be joyful. I think we can be joyful even when we’re not happy, in other words. (Nicole: Yes) Right? There’s a deep downness to it. It’s a very profound children’s song.

Nicole (02:06):

It is. It is. And I’m glad we learned it when we were young. I’m hoping to teach— I don’t know if my kids know that one yet. Oh!

Sharon (02:11):

I feel like it’s an important song.

Nicole (02:12):

I know, they must. If not, I’ll teach it to ’em tonight.

Sharon (02:15):

Yeah. I think there were hand signals to it too, so, but I’m not sure.

Nicole (02:19):

I can’t remember. Down in my heart to stay, and I’m so happy. (Singing together) So, so very happy.

Sharon (02:23):

Yeah. Okay.

Nicole (02:24):

That’s a great one.

Sharon (02:25):

Yeah. And guess what? It’s joyful.

Nicole (02:27):

It is.

Sharon (02:28):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (02:29):

It’s a good one for today.

Sharon (02:30):

All right. So, well, we’re gonna talk and study out this Christian character trait called joy by looking at some passages of scripture that talk about joy, because it’s, it’s not what one might think. And I think by exploring the different passages I’ve chosen where God talks about joy, we’ll get away from the notion that you have to be happy all the time. (Nicole: Yes) I’ve talked about this before. I remember seeing one particular choir come to Gordon College years ago when I was in college. Every single one of the 40 member choir smiled the whole time.

Nicole (03:06):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (03:07):

It was really weird and a little freaky. Yeah. (Yeah) And they were all happy and everything was wonderful in their lives, and Jesus made it perfect. And instead of me being drawn to them it was almost the opposite. I’m like, oh, wow. They are, they’re doing, they’re, I don’t, I can’t relate.

Nicole (03:28):

Right, right.

Sharon (03:30):

So, so joy does not mean a false pretense of everything’s fine all the time. (NIcole: Right) We get to be sad. (Yes) We get to say I’m struggling. (Mm-hmm) We get to say, life is hard for me right now. (Mm-hmm) That’s all good. The psalms are full of lament. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) We can lament. So I wanna, as we talk about joy, get away from the notion, let’s get away from that ‘notion’ that we have to act out something that isn’t real. (Nicole: Yes) Does that make sense?

Nicole (04:07):

Yeah. It’s not a fake Pollyanna face that Christians throw on. I have joy no matter what. It’s a real deep, deep down– joy.

Sharon (04:14):

It’s deep down. Exactly.

Nicole (04:15):

And it’s always there, even in pain. So we’re gonna read all about it.

Sharon (04:17):

Alright. Yay! And you get to go first, (Nicole: Alright) so you get the first verse. Go for it.

Nicole (04:22):

Okay. So Nehemiah 8:10, “And Nehemiah continued, Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Oh, one of my top 10 favorite verses for sure.

Sharon (04:44):

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Nicole (04:46):

But there’s something about this verse, you know, on those tough days, to remember that God loves me, no matter what, you know, and then saying this verse, “the joy of the Lord is my strength”. You know, it, it’s what keeps me going. That it’s his joy as my strength, not my own. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in my kitchen trying to do supper, trying to help a kid with homework, trying to break up a fight, trying to be kind of excited when Josh comes home and greet him nicely.

Sharon (05:13):

Yes. Yes.

Nicole (05:13):

And I’m just like, I’m at my end, starting to yell at the kids, and I stop and go, God, I need your help. Help me. And I say that verse, “the joy of the Lord is my strength”, and I remember his love. (Sharon: Yeah) And it gives me the joy, which then leads to the strength to, ‘deep breath, okay, kiddo, five times five is 25. This is how you spell this. And now I’m stirring the supper that’s almost burning. But it helps me jump back into the chaos of that moment where I am not enough. I don’t have any more strength. (Sharon: Yeah) But the joy of the Lord gives me that strength. Or, you know what, sometimes when my kids are fighting, I’ll just burst out singing. I’ll start singing a worship song.

Sharon (05:50):

No kidding.

Nicole (05:51):

Because they’re just—, and I’m like, you know what? ‘How great Thou art.’ I start singing and they kind of stop, looking and I’m like, sorry, I just need to get a little bit of joy in there.

Sharon (05:59):

That is awesome. That is so fun. And it’s the joy of the Lord (Nicole: Yes) that’s our strength. So worship brings you back to joy in the Lord. Yes. And our strength comes from remembering who he is.

Nicole (06:14):

Absolutely.

Sharon (06:15):

And getting our faces and minds out of the pit that is the reality of this world sometimes.

Nicole (06:20):

Yes.

Sharon (06:21):

So, yeah. Oh, that’s so cool. I love that. Well, mine is Psalm 16:11. It says this, “You will show me the way of life granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever”. I just love the thought of the joy of his presence. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) God doesn’t come with baggage like people do. (Nicole: Oh, yeah) In his presence, there’s just joy. People come with crabbiness, they come with, misunderstanding me. You know?

Nicole (06:53):

Mm-hmm. Right.

Sharon (06:54):

They come with judgy-ness, they come with all kinds of things, but in his presence is joy, because God is love. (Nicole: Oh, wow) And he has none of that baggage that misinterprets me. He knows me and he loves me anyways. Which is so amazing.

Nicole (07:08):

That’s beautiful.

Sharon (07:09):

So his heart is toward us, you know, and I think of another verse that I didn’t choose, Zephaniah 3:17, He sings over us.

Nicole (07:18):

Oh, I love that verse.

Sharon (07:20):

So being in his presence is what brings the joy, you know?

Nicole (07:23):

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Sharon (07:24):

And I was thinking of a time, I was thinking, what was a time of my life of, you know, joy of presence? (Nicole: Mm-hmm). And this is a weird one, but my dad has always loved the night sky (Nicole: Oh yeah) and meteor showers. So atypical childhood, but my dad and mom would wake us kids up at two or three in the morning.

Nicole (07:43):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (07:44):

At the peak of, you know, a meteor shower. (Nicole: Yeah) They’d have all the lawn chairs out in the backyard so we could lay back. Mom would make the hot chocolate.

Nicole (07:52):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (07:53):

And we would say, I see a falling star. You know, we’d watch all the, we’d watch it. And being alone outside at night alone would not have been any fun at all. In fact, I don’t look at meteor showers on my own because I don’t find it fun. But the joy of being with my dad that kept it safe, and my mom that gave me hot chocolate, their presence, (Oh) their presence was why it was fun. Right?

Nicole (08:19):

Right. Oh, that’s such a good example.

Sharon (08:21):

God shows us the way of light and grants us the joy of his presence, the Spirit with us all the time.

Nicole (08:29):

That’s amazing.

Sharon (08:29):

And that means that even the hard things are good things because he’s there.

Nicole (08:34):

Oh, that’s a good one. I love that. Yeah.

Sharon (08:36):

Isn’t that nice? I love that verse.

Nicole (08:37):

I was thinking too, you said that he doesn’t have baggage or anything. When we are having a hard time and I reach out to a friend and I just need that comfort or encouragement, I still have to go, well, how are you doing first before I pour all my heart? So you still have to be mindful of what they’re going through. (Sharon: Yes) And kind of bear their burdens. But I can come to Jesus worn out and ragged and not be like, do you have anything I need to bear for you, Jesus?

Sharon (09:00):

That’s so true.

Nicole (09:01):

How is your day going God? I can go, God help me!

Sharon (09:03):

Yes. Yes.

Nicole (09:04):

And I don’t have to be mindful of what—, so that’s really cool. We can come into his presence with no expectation of having to get more burdened.

Sharon (09:11):

Exactly so, exactly so. So there is joy in his presence.

Nicole (09:15):

Absolute joy. Oh, I like that one.

Sharon (09:17):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (09:17):

All right. So I’m gonna do Habakkuk 3:17-18. “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields lie empty and barren, even though the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.” Man. This is a cool passage because I think it strips away any notion that joy comes from anything else. There’s no figs, there’s no grapes, no olives, there’s no, there’s no sheep, there’s no cattle. There’s nothing that could give joy except for God. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. (Sharon: Yeah.) Because there’s times in our life when we have nothing else to rely on, but we can always count on God and the joy of our salvation (Sharon: Yes, yes) to uphold us. I just think that’s really cool.

Sharon (10:10):

It’s beautiful.

Nicole (10:10):

So I think that if we’re looking to God for our source of joy and not on our circumstances, I think back to Covid when we were all locked away in our homes, that was really difficult for people. People like you and I, (Sharon: Yes) to be isolated, but to still find joy in the presence of God and meeting with him (Sharon: Mm-hmm) and finding joy, not in our circumstances, because if we look to our circumstances, we would have been an absolute mess.

Sharon (10:35):

Pretty bleak. Yes.

Nicole (10:36):

And the days I did, I was an absolute mess, despaired, you know, depression, all of those things. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) But on the days I looked to God, there was joy that didn’t come from circumstances.

Sharon (10:44):

Right.

Nicole (10:45):

Because anything that, even if you do have grapes and figs and a barn full of cattle, it could be gone the next day in a fire.

Sharon (10:51):

It sure could.

Nicole (10:52):

Or a hailstorm. We cannot rely on these things.

Sharon (10:54):

We can’t. You’re absolutely right. And there’s a real theme song going on here. It’s in the joy of the Lord. (Nicole: Yeah) Joy in your presence. I’m gonna rejoice in you cause I have absolutely nothing else. (Mm-hmm) Yeah. Yeah. This is our theme. That’s why it’s deep down.

Nicole (11:08):

Yes. Oh, the joy of salvation. Right. And then that, that total knowledge of no matter what, I am his.

Sharon (11:13):

Yes. I’m his forever.

Nicole (11:15):

What joy does that bring?

Sharon (11:17):

And guess what? It ends well. It ends well.

Nicole (11:18):

It does. Yeah.

Sharon (11:20):

Or, or it begins well, as C.S. Lewis would say. (Nicole: Yeah) This is just the introduction. We haven’t even gotten to chapter one when we get to heaven. We open the book!

Nicole (11:29):

Yay!

Sharon (11:29):

“Yay! So, okay. Mine is John 15:10 and 11. Jesus is speaking here. He says, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love. Just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow”. Oh my goodness. Why is he telling us to remain in his love? Cause he wants us joyful. (Nicole: Mmmm) My God is interested in me having joy. (Hmm) I think that is the coolest thing. He’s commanding me in John 15 to abide, remain, stay close to him, humbly needy to him, doing things his way, because that’s where joy flows. (Hmm) So again, we’ve talked about this before. The commands are, are to make us happy. (Nicole: Yeah) Because then we, we don’t have all these regrets that come otherwise.

Nicole (12:20):

That’s true.

Sharon (12:21):

You know? It’s kinda like, um, imagine you’re climbing a mountain (Nicole: Mmm-hmm) and you’ve got a really professional mountain guide who knows the best way up that mountain and knows the best summit, the safest place where the ledge isn’t gonna fall off and you’re gonna, you know, drop to your death.

Nicole (12:38):

Plummet to your death?

Sharon (12:38):

Right. That’d be good. And where you can watch the sunrise. (Nicole: Oh, great). You know, so you can either obey the way the mountain guide tells you to go, even though sometimes he might bring you in ways that don’t look as nice. (Yeah) Or you can say, ah, I can do it on my own and not obey. And so what happens, most likely you don’t get up the mountain because you get lost if you’re not following the one that knows the way. (Right) Where’s the joy? In obedience. On following that mountain guide and getting to the right summit and watching the sunrise over a mountain range. So when, when Jesus says, remain in my love, and that’s where the joy comes from. (Yeah) When he says, obey my commands, that’s where the joy comes from. (Mm-hmm) He’s not joking.

Nicole (13:23):

No.

Sharon (13:23):

He’s the experienced guide.

Nicole (13:26):

Wow. And there’s, there’s joy in the peace of knowing that you’re putting your hope in him, like he will get you there.

Sharon (13:32):

Yes.

Nicole (13:32):

You don’t have to have that unsettled, well is it this route? Is it that way? Will I fall off the mountain? Or if they’re following a guide that knows the way, there that joy is like a peacefulness.

Sharon (13:41):

Yes.

Nicole (13:41):

Like, okay, we’ll get there.

Sharon (13:42):

Yes. And the happy expectation, if we persevere, going back to ‘STEP’.

Nicole (13:46):

Yes.

Sharon (13:47):

Surrender, trust, expect that sunrise. Persevere in that obedience and there will be joy.

Nicole (13:54):

Yeah. Oh yes.

Sharon (13:55):

So.

Nicole (13:56):

Good, love it. All right. I’m gonna do Hebrews 12:1-2. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down. Especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion, who initiated and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him he endured the cross disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” So, looking beyond climbing the mountain, the brambles, the bushes, looking beyond the pain, the trials and the struggles in this life, we will find our joy in remembering what is at the end of this long hard journey.

Sharon (14:44):

Yes. Yes.

Nicole (14:45):

We’re gonna be with God forever. And thinking through how this manifests itself in our lives, like you’ve lost several grandchildren. (Sharon: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm) I’ve lost a child. (Mm-hmm) And I think that looking forward to meeting them in heaven,. (Sharon: Yes) it adds such a sweetness to the journey on earth. Like, someday I will see you again. (Yes) It just makes heaven a little bit more real and a little bit more special. (Mm-hmm) I know for our family too, my little one talks about it a lot cause it was her twin.

Sharon (15:10):

Yes.

Nicole (15:10):

And so she mentions in talk, what’s he doing in heaven with Jesus? What’s going on? And that just brings such joy to my heart, to my aching mama’s heart, and so much peace knowing that at the end I will see you God and I will see him and everything will be wonderful.

Sharon (15:26):

It’s a wonderful thing.

Nicole (15:27):

There’s joy in this horrible journey.

Sharon (15:29):

Yes. Yes. And sometimes it is horrible. And Jesus endured the horrible for the joy (NIcole: Yes) set before him, which was us with him. (Yeah) That’s what brings Jesus joy.

Nicole (15:39):

That blows me away.

Sharon (15:41):

I know.

Nicole (15:42):

I don’t know if I’d wanna be with myself forever.

Sharon (15:45):

It’s just so stunning because he, Trinity, was complete without us, but what brought him joy? Suffering to bring us with him so we could experience seeing the ones we lost and experience that sunrise that’s beyond every sunrise we’ve ever seen.

Nicole (16:01):

Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yes.

Sharon (16:02):

Experience chapter one of a book (Nicole: Yeah) that will go on forever. So cool.

Nicole (16:07):

It’ll be so good.

Sharon (16:08):

Okay, last one, James 1:2-3. I’ve saved the hardest for last.

Nicole (16:12):

Oh.

Sharon (16:13):

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy (Nicole: That verse) for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. And you read that and you’re like, uh, what if I don’t really want my endurance to have a chance to grow?

Nicole (16:31):

Can I opt out of this verse?

Sharon (16:34):

What if that doesn’t sound appealing to me? Right? (Nicole: Yeah) But James is serious. Hey, when you have a chance to hone that endurance, (Mm-hmm) welcome it, because somehow that matters. It matters in how you live out your life. It matters in the strength of your faith. It matters in even the closeness you have with the Lord. (Mm-hmm) You know, and when I run to God in trouble, there’s a strengthening of my faith that can’t be found to the same degree in running to God when I’m happy.

Nicole (17:05):

True. Yeah.

Sharon (17:06):

Is this a little bit harder to run to the one who could have fixed it and didn’t?

Nicole (17:09):

Mm-hmm.

Sharon (17:10):

If God is sovereign and I have trouble, he allowed it. So when I still faithfully go to him and say, you know what? I am going to find joy in this trial because you allowed it for a good purpose. (Nicole: Yeah) I, I am strengthening my faith. And that’s important. It really is. (Nicole: Yeah) So. Woo. That was a tough-y.

Nicole (17:32):

It is.

Sharon (17:32):

Yep. Yep. And you probably, it’s kinda like Amy Carmichael’s, ‘Oh, a chance to die’. Oh, a trial. I’m going to count it joy.

Nicole (17:39):

Right.

Sharon (17:40):

Um, you know, this is a maturing process.

Nicole (17:42):

Yes. It might take a few of those trials, to start counting them as joy.

Sharon (17:45):

Yes. Yes. But there is joy in a trial when we lean on him.

Nicole (17:50):

There is. Yeah.

Sharon (17:50):

And there’s a stunning sense of his presence. When we first, you know, dropped our $40,000 a year and didn’t have any money when Ray was a Christian school teacher, I can’t tell you the joy there was in getting free freezers and pianos. And, and clothing and vacations. It was astounding. (Nicole: Wow) I never would’ve had that. (That’s amazing) If I hadn’t had the trial.

Nicole (18:11):

Right.

Sharon (18:12):

Yeah.

Nicole (18:13):

Oh, that’s so good.

Sharon (18:14):

Yeah. So there’s a lot of good that comes from it, even though nobody signs up for it.

Nicole (18:17):

Nope, no, thank you.

Sharon (18:18):

So, okay. We’ve pretty much concluded that joy does not come from circumstances. It comes down from that deep down knowing, that we’re ultimately safe and fine, watched over and protected. And the end of our lives is really the beginning of something amazing. So now is our time to get practical. We’re gonna look at how we can practice joy in our four areas of life. God, family, Christians, and unbelievers. I wanna live it out Nicole, and it’s a bit of a challenge for me to ask God how to do it with joy. So, let’s start with God. How do you bring joy into your relationship with God?

Nicole (18:56):

I, it’s kind of making quiet time fun. You taught me that actually, like finding like your spot. Get your favorite snuggly blanket or get your favorite tea. Like, don’t make it a drudgery, but find joy in meeting with God. If it’s being outside on your porch and hearing the birds twitter when you’re meeting with Jesus.

Sharon (19:12):

Mm-hmm.

Nicole (19:12):

Find that place that it is a joy. (Sharon: Yes) Because in the beginning sometimes it’s hard to get to the quiet time until we are filled with the joy of the Lord. So before he becomes the reason we are running for quiet time. Maybe make it a little fun before.

Sharon (19:26):

Absolutely. Exactly. And that’s the whole point of a Selah day too.

Nicole (19:30):

Yeah.

Sharon (19:30):

It’s a day dedicated to runaway from every other responsibility. Walk, you know, a pretty path.

Nicole (19:38):

Yeah.

Sharon (19:39):

Sip tea, read a Christian book, pray, think, sleep, nap.

Nicole (19:45):

Right.

Sharon (19:45):

You know, and that’s what Sabbath is too. Sabbath was not meant to be a chore. It’s a ‘take a break’.

Nicole (19:51):

Yeah.

Sharon (19:51):

And there’s joy in that.

Nicole (19:53):

There is. Yeah.

Sharon (19:54):

So, when we sabbath, when we quiet time, when we take a Selah day to be with God, we’re, we’re enjoying his presence. We’re not doing things for him.

Nicole (20:03):

Right.

Sharon (20:03):

We’re just enjoying being with him.

Nicole (20:05):

Yeah.

Sharon (20:06):

And it gets easier and it’s really fun.

Nicole (20:09):

Oh it does. Oh and I always come back so joy filled from Sweet Selah days.

Sharon (20:12):

Oh, me too.

Nicole (20:13):

Like quiet times are great, they get me through the day. But a Sweet Selah day. Man.

Sharon (20:16):

That can give you a week.

Nicole (20:17):

That’s some joy boost there. Yep.

Sharon (20:19):

Exactly so. Exactly so. So, okay. So that’s, God. That’s how we do it. I also thought singing.

Nicole (20:24):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (20:25):

When I, when I burst into song, that’s joyful. And it’s worshipful. So song is a good one too. Yeah. So, okay. How about family? How do you bring the fruit of joy into your family?

Nicole (20:36):

Yeah, I know. Us moms, we can often set the attitude in the house, can’t we?

Sharon (20:41):

Mm-hmm.

Nicole (20:41):

So just recently, Ellie was really disappointed. She’s my one that loves events and looks forward to things so much. (Sharon: Yeah) And when things don’t happen, she’s devastated. And so an event was canceled and she was devastated and she’s just sitting there kind of moping and I kept trying to perk her up with a couple little things and she wasn’t—

Sharon (20:58):

She wasn’t perking.

Nicole (20:58):

She wasn’t perking up. So I said, Ellie, let’s pray about this. Like, duh mom. Let’s pray. I’m like, let’s tell God how disappointed we are.

Sharon (21:07):

Good.

Nicole (21:07):

Let’s bring that disappointment to him cause I don’t do that enough. This was a God moment cause I don’t do this as I should. (Sharon: Uh-huh) And so we did. We sat and we prayed and said, ‘God, Ellie’s so sad that she didn’t get to do this. Like what can she find instead? Give her some joy to enjoy the rest of the day.” (Sharon: Yeah) And she did, she and her sisters found this great little thing. They made a whole thing in the basement. They made a whole village in the basement.

Sharon (21:26):

Really?

Nicole (21:27):

Mom, come shop and sleep and play in our village. And I’m like, oh, my basement, it was just cleaned. It’s fine. Have fun.

Sharon (21:33):

Sacrificial love.

Nicole (21:34):

Yes. Out in the real world. So yeah, I think that just bringing our disappointments to God. (Sharon: Yes, yes) You know, and just asking him for joy.

Sharon (21:42):

I think that’s great. I do, I do. I think that, there’s kind of twin things with mothering that I remembered brought joy to my family. One was rhythms, you know?

Nicole (21:53):

Yeah.

Sharon (21:53):

The joy of, you know, every night we sing a song before bed. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) Or every Christmas we make the gingerbread houses or (Yeah) every Easter we do this. Um, but then the breaking out of rhythm, like Ray and I do. I mean one of our favorite things is ice cream for dinner. Yeah, one cannot have ice cream for dinner all the time for obvious reasons. (Nicole: Well, yes) But you know, we eat healthy, we eat healthy, we eat healthy. And then one of us will say to the other, let’s do ice cream for dinner.

Nicole (22:22):

I love it.

Sharon (22:23):

I know. It’s such a simple, silly thing. And he has this cool Maxima where we can have the, you know, the little sunroof down.

Nicole (22:30):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (22:30):

And we crank up the music and we drive to Memories Ice Cream, which is a 45 minute drive on windy roads where the Maxima (Nicole: Oh goodness) takes the curves well.

Nicole (22:39):

Oh, nice.

Sharon (22:40):

And we have the best time.

Nicole (22:42):

Oh, how fun.

Sharon (22:43):

So spontaneous weirdo things like ice cream for dinner.

Nicole (22:47):

Yeah.

Sharon (22:47):

You know, and, and sometimes we need that. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) We need to, rhythm is good, but um, breaking out and doing something crazy is kind of fun too.

Nicole (22:55):

It is.

Sharon (22:56):

And doing things like that with my Ray who’s very, you know, sort of (Nicole: Regimented) rhythmic and everything. It can be really fun if I choose things that he’d really like.

Nicole (23:05):

I love that.

Sharon (23:06):

Yeah.

Nicole (23:06):

Oh, that’s fun.

Sharon (23:07):

So yeah. Yeah. Okay. How about Christians? How do we bring joy to fellow Christians?

Nicole (23:13):

Hmm. Well I think going back to last week’s podcast about giving grace, I think that we can help our brothers and sisters in Christ to find joy when they’re having struggles. You know, instead of beating ’em up, just coming alongside of them and (Sharon: Yeah) maybe doing spontaneous fun things with them.

Sharon (23:29):

You know what, really? Yeah, yeah.

Nicole (23:31):

Like I, we used to do, I used to have a Valentine’s Day, I called it Gal – entine’s Day and did it the day before Valentine’s Day. (Nicole: Yeah) For some of my friends whose husbands kind of forgot about Valentine’s Day sometimes?

Sharon (23:41):

Uhhuh.

Nicole (23:41):

And we just had fun together at my house. So I’d make some little, little scones and some coffee when we had little babies and we’re all staying home. (Sharon: Yeah) And we would just have a little thing together (I love it)and just celebrate our friendship. And I think just looking for the people that are struggling, you know, and finding some ways to put some joy into their life and that was a lot of fun for us.

Sharon (23:59):

I agree. Yeah.

Nicole (24:00):

In a tough season.

Sharon (24:00):

Yeah. Yeah. I think we need to look for the lonely ones and make time for them.

Nicole (24:05):

Yeah. I think so.

Sharon (24:05):

Yeah, yeah. And do fun things with them.

Nicole (24:08):

Yeah.

Sharon (24:08):

And listen to them. And don’t make them happy necessarily. Sometimes they need to be sad with you.

Nicole (24:13):

Yes.

Sharon (24:13):

But, but give opportunities for fun things to do.

Nicole (24:17):

Right. In the midst of hard in their world sometimes.

Sharon (24:18):

I like it. I really like it. You know, I was thinking, probably cause the retreat is so much on my mind anyways.

Nicole (24:24):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (24:25):

But a retreat is a way to give Christians a joy time. (Nicole: Oh) We’re offering in September a refuge, you know, get away for the weekend, have awesome worship leaders. Oh my goodness. I love their harmony so much.

Nicole (24:39):

Oh, I’m so excited to hear them.

Sharon (24:39):

Leading us in worship and sitting out under the stars and just belting out songs to God while we look at stars, twinkle overhead and (Nicole: Yeah) sitting by the lake and, and not having to wash dishes.

Nicole (24:51):

Oh yes.

Sharon (24:51):

You know? I mean, right there.

Nicole (24:53):

There’s so much joy in that.

Sharon (24:54):

Just right there, not having to plan meals.

Nicole (24:57):

Yes.

Sharon (24:57):

You know, having one role, you know? (Nicole: Mm-hmm) In normal life a woman has so many roles. She’s a daughter, she’s a wife, you know, she might be a mama, she’s an aunt, she’s a neighbor. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) Well you go to a retreat and you’re a daughter of the King.

Nicole (25:11):

Wow. Yeah.

Sharon (25:12):

You know, it’s just, so retreats can be a way, or special events can be a way to bring joy (Nicole: Oh yeah) to Christian women.

Nicole (25:20):

They certainly bring joy to me.

Sharon (25:22):

Yeah, me too. So that’s awesome. And now how about non-believers? How do we bring joy into the lives of non-believers?

Nicole (25:30):

I know this one I think comes out more naturally kind of in the way we just live our lives. You know, if we’re sitting with Jesus, if we’re with him and we’re filled with that joy that comes from him, it’s going to spill out naturally and they’re gonna see it in our lives as to we interact with them.

Sharon (25:44):

Yeah, yeah.

Nicole (25:44):

And then they might ask, well, why are you so happy all the time?

Sharon (25:47):

Yes.

Nicole (25:47):

And then you can tell them, this is not fake or natural, this is from Jesus. So I think that maybe just sharing with them and alongside of that, not just always appearing joyful, but being honest with our struggles as well.

Sharon (26:01):

Absolutely. Yes.

Nicole (26:02):

Because when they see the struggles and they see us say, but the joy of the Lord is my strength, despite my struggles, that’s where I think it really connects.

Sharon (26:08):

Mm-hmm. I agree.

Nicole (26:09):

You know, cause we can appear to be happy in the smiling choir with cheeks that probably hurt from smiling so much.

Sharon (26:13):

Yes.

Nicole (26:14):

Because Jesus just loves us. Um, he does love us and there’s joy in him, but there’s sorrow too. But in that sorrow, we find more joy, more capacity for joy, you know?

Sharon (26:23):

Yes, absolutely.

Nicole (26:24):

So I think being able to share that with, with non-Christians, just again, kind of doing life with them and letting them see you struggle and go back to Jesus.

Sharon (26:30):

Mm-hmm. mm-hmm, I agree. I think it’s real important that they, they see a real us.

Nicole (26:34):

Yeah.

Sharon (26:35):

You know, recently we had that windstorm and Ray and I were in Florida, so we missed it. And our neighbors were watching our house, but they didn’t notice the roof, you know?

Nicole (26:45):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (26:46):

They noticed that trees fell down and did not hit our house, which was great.

Nicole (26:49):

Yes. .

Sharon (26:50):

And one of our neighbors moved all the branches out of our front yard for us.

Nicole (26:54):

Aw, that’s nice.

Sharon (26:55):

Which was awesome. (Nicole: Yeah) But, um, what had happened to the roof was evidently the original roofer had left some nails off. So we basically had a roof with a mohawk.

Nicole (27:05):

Oh really?

Sharon (27:05):

There was a section of the roof where the shingles were sitting straight up.

Nicole (27:09):

Oh my word.

Sharon (27:10):

So, um, so I just made it a joke, you know, because they felt so bad they hadn’t told me, like they could have done anything anyways.

Nicole (27:16):

Right, right.

Sharon (27:17):

And I’m like, it’s got a mohawk and we just laughed about it and you know, but just, just doing life together and.

Nicole (27:23):

Yes.

Sharon (27:23):

And, and not, you know, I didn’t make it a big deal. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) It was just kind of funny.

Nicole (27:29):

That’s, but you could have, I mean, you could have chosen to be offended that they didn’t see that.

Sharon (27:33):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (27:33):

And you could have, but you chose to make it fun and lighthearted and joyful.

Sharon (27:37):

Right, right. So, but it was still a trouble. And I think we should show our troubles.

Nicole (27:40):

Yeah. Yep.

Sharon (27:41):

So, and real important to know. So there we go. All right. Well, let us pray about genuine joy, the deep down kind.

Nicole (27:49):

Yes.

Sharon (27:50):

Before we close. Lord, I thank you that there are so many scriptures that link joy with trouble. Father, you say, in this world we will have trouble, but be of good cheer. You’ve overcome it. So Father, I thank you so much that these two principles walk side by side, and I pray for those who feel anything but joyful today. And I ask that you would bring them comfort, that they would have the space to lament and cry, but that also deep down they would know that your presence never leaves them. That your love for them holds no matter how messy life gets. And that they can find joy there deep down, knowing that the ending is good and you love them forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (28:47):

Amen. Well, I certainly enjoyed this episode and hope you did too. We are not always going to feel joy. We know that. If you’re going through a rough season, it’s okay to grieve and lament. And certainly when we’re with others who are suffering a false ‘cheer up’ can really hurt someone. But we hope that you’ll ask the Lord how to enable you to spread the deep down kind of joy everywhere you go as he leads this week, as best you can. And I’m going to try to do the same. Next week is a very special one for the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. We will be airing our 100th episode. We’ll be exploring the Christian attribute of peace. We’re calling episode 100, Unexplainable Peace. Because honestly, having peace in this messy world can only be explained by Jesus helping us. We’ll look forward to the discussion as always, and the 100th episode party that comes afterward. Until next time, we wish you that joy, joy, joy down deep in your heart.

New Speaker (29:55):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found@sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us.you for joining us.