(3 minute read)

Question: Is the joy of the Lord the same as happiness?

The short answer is no.

How is it possible that when life gets challenging, and you go through trials and tribulation, and things are just in a bad spot… You can still have a deep peace and joy?

That is something that only Christ can offer

Trivia Question: What was the language that Jesus primarily spoke?

Nehemiah 8:10 “…Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Here’s a quick history lesson for context.

In Nehemiah the Jewish people have finally returned to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. (If you haven’t read the Old Testament yet, it’s practically a story of how God is providing a way for the Israelites to get to the promised land - but God routinely judged them when they would not obey, hence, why they were routinely in captivity.)

They finally got there.

Ezra, a scribe, is reading them a book from the Law of Moses (the Torah). As Ezra is reading the law, the Israelite people are moved to tears. You can imagine the sense of emotion they are going through.

Grief over their ancestors' failures to obey the Law, which led to their exile; remorse for their own sins; and a renewed sense of commitment to their covenant with God.

Nehemiah, who was governor at the time along with Ezra the priest & scribe told them what we read in Nehemiah 8:10.

He instructs them to celebrate with a feast and to share with those who have nothing, because THIS day is not for grieving but for understanding that the joy found in God’s presence and His promises provided the strength they need to rebuild their lives & community.

Spiritual joy can often provide resilience and strength, even in the face of difficulty or sorrow. It comes from a place of understanding and embracing God’s word and his promises.

That’s what happened to me.

📍 When God turned my tears into Joy

2 Years ago in South Carolina…

If you know who I am on a personal level, you’ll know that Soccer was a big part of my life. I played in college, and at the semi-professional level.

There’s 1 event that took place when I could sense that my soccer career was coming to a close where the Lord showed me what true joy was, and where it was found.

This was my last semester of college soccer. Long story short, I wasn’t playing well, and it wasn’t going as I wanted.

My whole life revolved around soccer.

I wanted to play pro, badly.

I remember, at about 6PM on a mild South Carolina day I was driving to the gym after practice because that was the only place I felt like I could get away from soccer (I had 5 roommates who were all teammates, it was inescapable).

I was listening to a sermon by Carter Conlon randomly, and he mentioned a verse in Romans that sparked something in me as I was pulling into the parking lot.

It was Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I started to weep, with a joy.

How was it possible that I felt like my world was crumbling, yet, deep down there was an inexplicable joy?

(funny enough… even as I write this now, and think back to that day, I am starting to tear up a little bit now!)

I realized that in the midst of trials and tribulations, when I considered soccer to be the highest priority, and I was genuinely unhappy about where I was in life, and what was going wrong, and how I wasn’t going to “make it”, God was faithful.

Soccer was just an activity that I was doing - it wasn’t who I was, or am.

My identity is in Christ. That’s it. That’s what matters.

And when going through what I did in that season of my life, God showed me that it’s nothing worth comparing to the Glory that is to be revealed to us in Christ Jesus.

Thanks for reading.

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Trivia Answer: Aramaic