Lenten Devotional, Day 28: JOY'S DANCE PARTNER
Dear Lenten Sojourners,
The Scriptures allotted for Tuesday are Psalm 146, Isaiah 42:14–21, Colossians 1:9–14.
JOY'S DANCE PARTNER:
I was reminded of the thought above by Colossians 1:11: "longsuffering with joyfulness." Joy — not as an obligatory one-off — is regularly assigned to dance with suffering. And note: Sometimes "patience" as a word just doesn't cut it; the archaic "longsuffering" is often more apt. To be sure, sometimes we are called to suffer long with a difficult person or situation, as is God with us...all.
(Side-bar rant: I am very concerned about the weaponization of boundaries that has developed as an accepted norm in culture and even churches. Folks are increasingly unwilling to ever sacrifice/endure for the sake of someone else or for the greater good. And when their boundaries are imposed, they are often a first resort and weaponized for maximum harm to the other party who are moreover afforded no chance for reconciliation or even simple adjustments. [Much editing and excising occurred here]. Yet Biblically most relational hiccups — even breakdowns — fall well within 2 Timothy 2:24–26. Yes, there are exceptions, mostly criminal).
Anyway, surprisingly and unequivocally so, the main dance partner of joy is suffering, hardship, affliction, etc. Biblical pairings of joy & suffering (to pick a general term) are numerous enough to fill several old-school, cotillion dance cards (James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6, 4:12–13; Matthew 5:11–12; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Colossians 1:11, 29; Romans 5:3; Hebrews 3:17, 12:2; etc. etc.).
Here is a poetic version of the truth in focus; God gives us blessed poetry to ease the blunt-force of some realities:
"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines,
The produce of the olive fail
And the fields yield no food,
The flock be cut off from the fold
And there be no herd in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places."
(Haggai 3:17–19).
What's the point of all this? To suck it up buttercup? Nay! I actually feel tremendous compassion. Some happy people unwittingly lord over those who are struggling to find joy. What do you mean?
Well, some happy people don't have Biblical joy; they simply have pleasant circumstances. And that IS to be celebrated, indeed: "Be happy with those who are happy." (Romans 12:15). But really one doesn't know for truly if they have joy, until they find themselves cut in on and dancing with some kind of suffering. Happiness becomes two left feet or a wallflower if asked for a dance by Suffering. Whereas joy keeps dancing as a gracious, elegant, belle, even when paired with Suffering.
Sometimes such a pairing is high art. I think of the paso doble, a fascinating dance portraying the struggle between matador & bull. And isn't absorbing or dancing with adversity the notion behind martial arts?
So maybe that is why Joy & Suffering are made to dance together and are almost always seen together in Scripture. Yea, Joy is only discernable vis-a-vis a trial, testing, tribulation. Indeed, circumstances cannot produce it nor take it away. It is independent of abounding and abasing. For it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (rf. Galatians 5:22) and even there we see it in the company longsuffering/forbearance.
And as for happy, yes, that is good — o so wonderful. And it is there in Scripture in spades; however; there it is usually called "glad/ness." A lack of gladness in a person in the midst of reasonably good circumstances, might warrant a gracious, gentle reminder of thankfulness or caution as to envy. But when a person is struggling for joy, fight with them and show the very thing joy is paired with in our reading today, i.e. longsuffering.
I know! This might help: On the surface, happiness and joy can look very similar. And so we expect them to work the same. Ah, but they are not, for happiness is to "dessert", what joy is to "desert."
The Only Best in/is Christ,
tIM