A few months ago, I wrote about one of the recurring symbols in my life at the time: dawn. In that post, I talked about how sometimes, we find ourselves in the Valley of Shadow wondering if there is any hope for the morning. While I praise God that the times of darkness in my life have been few, that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments of shadow I must walk through.
Since the beginning of this year, my family has experienced a number of medical surprises and unexpected events. Ironically, the recurring theme in my life during this time has been, simply, joy. In the times of uncertainty, it can be easy to lose hope or to wonder where God is in the midst of it. But as a Christian, my reaction to trials should be different from that of the world. Because my hope isn’t in my earthly circumstances, but in Christ’s gift of salvation. And in Nehemiah, he exhorts the Israelites that they are to be merry and joyful, for the joy of the Lord is their strength. In spite of the opposition their work faced, they still had reason to sing praise to their God, because He provided their strength.
Often when I think of strength in battle, I think of the firearms, knives, or other weapons that a warrior may take up. These are the things that give us an edge in the worldly fight. But our fight isn’t against earthly forces, and Scripture clearly states that the JOY OF THE LORD is our strength. To me, that says the most important weapon I can arm myself with is the promises of God.
One song in particular that employs this imagery is Rend Collective’s “Joy of the Lord.” There’s just something so powerful about the idea of singing out the Lord’s praises in the darkness and the shadows, as the chorus boldly proclaims. After all, what power can darkness have over the name of Jesus?
It reminds me of a story in Acts where Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison for offending some powerful people. It was the midnight hour, a time when I can imagine most prisoners feel their lowest, but the apostles instead prayed and sang hymns into the darkness. The other prisoners heard, and Scripture says that “suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened” (Acts 16:26).
God could have stopped there, but He wasn’t finished with the story. For the jailer saw what happened and assumed the prisoners had all escaped. Deciding it was more honorable to kill himself than be killed by his superiors, he was about to end his life when Paul stopped him and showed him that everyone was still there. The jailer then begged to know what he could do to be saved, and the apostles had the blessing of sharing the gospel and baptizing not only him, but his entire family as well. What was most certainly the jailer’s personal Valley of Shadow was redeemed by the good news of Christ.
What a testimony to the watching world that we can still have hope in the middle of trials! Just as the faith of Paul and Silas led to miraculous events and the salvation of lost souls, our own reaction to hardship can draw people closer to the source of true joy.
The world will try to tell us that joy is the same as happiness, that when we feel happy, we have joy. But I believe God calls us to a higher joy–the joy of our salvation. That truth won’t change when the winds of trouble blow in, because the One who gives it is constant. Our joy is stable, unlike what the world has to offer.
So I must daily make a choice: I can choose to cower in fear and let my circumstances get the better of me, or I can choose to arm myself with the joy of the Lord. And it is because of the Lord’s joy that I can face the shadows of life with praise, since it is through His strength and not my own that the darkness flees.