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 A few years ago Canadian writer Mike Mason (author of The Mystery of Marriage, The Gospel According to Job, etc.) launched what he called "an experiment in joy": he made up his mind to be joyful in the Lord every day for ninety days. A moody person by nature, for him this was a radical experiment that changed his life. Throughout the ninety days he kept a journal, which eventually became a book on joy entitled Champagne for the Soul.
What follows is part of a series of ten excerpts from that book (now in a new edition by Regent College Publishing, available through Amazon.ca).
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
Psalm 19:4-5
The psalmist David knew about champions. He launched his career by defeating a champion named Goliath (1ĘSamuel 17:4), and in David's army special honor was given to champions known as mighty men. One of David's mighty men went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. Another raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. A champion named Eleazar, when all the rest of the Israelite army retreated, stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword (2ĘSamuel 23:20,8,10).
This is the spirit that's needed to win through to a life of joy. Instead of feet that flee from difficulties, we need hands that freeze to our swords. Even champion is too weak a word for the true Christian, that roving, dangerous, hoodlum warrior of God. To paraphrase Romans 8:37, We are more than champions through him who loved us.
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Joy lives dangerously. If an experience is deeply satisfying, it usually holds an element of uncertainty. If satisfaction is to enlarge into joy, the uncertainty factor will be high. Risk, peril, unpredictability are the air that joy breathes. Remove these factors and joy suffocates. This is why God has designed for us a life that can only be lived by faith.
Champions sleep in their armor, weapons always at hand. Through constant practice they become invincible, and knowing this makes them jubilant, so much so that they thirst for more and more conquests as they go from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).
Champions don't mind being uncomfortable. If we were on an interstellar voyage, we would accept the inconveniences of space travel as part of the bargain. Why not do the same with life? Even more than Star Trek, life offers incomparable opportunities for adventure, discovery, and spectacular beauty. If we're busy complaining about the confinement of our space suit, we might miss it all.
Champions are not afraid of death. At least, they're less afraid of death than they are of not living fully, and so they're prepared to face anything. Revelation 12:11 tells of the saints who did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. The moment we take this stance, the devil can do nothing more to us. We're not yet dead, but we've died to everything including death itself. Once dead, we're hidden with Christ and beyond the reach of the enemy. As long as we keep squirming, however, shrinking from hardships and pining for an easier life, the devil still has our number.
The course of a champion requires continual growth. For the person who's growing, each day is different. Each hour presents new challenges that have to be met with new strategies. If we're stuck in a rut, we don't need new strategies; we can live by the same old rules and never change a thing. To joy this is intolerable. Joy requires freshness, newness, stimulating situations. Joy thrives on the unboxable largeness of life in all its bewildering variety. Depression feeds on sameness, but joy craves a steady diet of fresh, dangerous, wiggling, live game.
Don't just be a survivor of life; be a champion rejoicing to run his course. Imagine yourself like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, greeting each new day as if it's your wedding day or your last day on earth or both.
December 21/2007
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David simply relied on God to defeat Goliath. David did not "launch his career" by killing Goliath. God had a job to get done and David was willing to heed the call and trust in God to be victorious. He had a personal relationship with the God of the universe. It doesn't say that David imagined himself victorious. And where do we get the POWER to be a champion? God's Holy Spirit!
What is the Definition of JOY? JOY is the "peace that passes all (earthly) understanding". It is NOT dependent on outside influences or circumstances. It is NOT something we can talk ourselves into! Happiness is dependent upon happenings. But we can have JOY even when we go through tough circumstances. JOY is based on faith in the Lord our God, not our feelings or in our own abilities to change our attitudes or circumstances.
Our JOY is in the Lord. Just call out to the Lord and He will give you peace, guidance, wisdom, etc. JOY & peace come from an intimate relationship with the Living God and His Word and embracing His will, His Love, His Gifts (for example) Discernment, Peace, Knowledge (according to the Scriptures) We can "imagine yourself like a bridegroom..."; however, studying God's Word verse-by-verse, using the Greek and Hebrew transliterations, increases our understanding of who we are in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Father, and His Holy Spirit. Then we will KNOW ourselves through our position and rank in our relationship with the One True Holy God Who Loves us and has an abundant life for us. He is the Bridegroom; we believers are His Bride. He is the Champion, the Power, the Glory that works through us and only through Him do we have victory. For all that is good comes through Him Who loves us.
God bless,
AnneMarie Curtis