Joy in God-glorifying resilience

I, like many of you, lament and grieve the status of our world today. It’s hard and heartbreaking to watch and see what’s going on around the globe but also in our country, evidenced by what’s happening in our schools, which in my lifetime has moved from reciting the Lord’s Prayer to replacing our country’s flag during the month of June. I grieve the reality of what’s being taught to our children. I grieve the reality of abortion, the status of mental health, the brokenness of politics (was it ever really “whole”?), I could go on and on. This is of course, not to mention at all the depth of hurts, sorrows and struggles that each of us carry in our personal lives. There is so much unrest today, you and I both know it.

Tim Keller wrote a book called, “Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering.” Like many of Keller’s books, it was a game-changer for me. One of the quotes I remember most was this: “Look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy.”

There is a resilience that God wants us to live with in this world. Paul knew it. It was why he was able to write to the Philippians and say, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” There is a depth of joy that comes from having the secret that Paul knew: When we have Christ we have all that we need. No matter what comes in our lives, the heights of happiness, the depths of despair, there is a joy that transcends all of it.

Series: Joy unleashed
Message 13 - Joy in God-glorifying resilience
Text: Philippians 4:10-13
Jordan Coros
Harvest Bible Chapel
June 11, 2023

You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.
Tim Keller

I can have joy, no matter what, when I live…

Grateful for gracious gifts (v. 10)

James 1:17

Content in every circumstance (v. 11-12)

Art of Divine Contentment
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/contentment.html

1 Corinthians 4:11
1 Corinthians 11:24–28

Dependant on Christ alone (v. 13)

Hebrews 13:5

One mark of maturity in Christ is that the mature know how to depend on the Lord in every situation of life, not only in those for when they assume they need help.
Richard R. Melick, Jr.