The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength

And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 ESV

I grew up singing all the popular Sunday school songs of the 80s–90s: “Father Abraham,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “Peace Like a River” and many more. In particular, “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength” comes to mind. Now there is a song that doesn’t consist of anything more than repeating a phrase that Nehemiah stated in Nehemiah 8:10. (For those of you who know it, it’s now stuck in your head…you’re welcome). In that verse, Nehemiah says, “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Now up until a few months ago, I always took this statement as having cheerful trust in God, and that will help me through tough times. Over this last year, God has shown me it goes so much deeper than that.

When I was going through some particularly dark times a few months ago, I was talking to a friend about what was going on, and she offered to pray for me and my situation. In her prayer, she asked that I would be able to find happiness and joy throughout my day despite my overwhelming circumstances. At the time, I didn’t think much beyond a quick sarcastic, “wouldn’t that be nice,” kind of thought. But God was about to reveal something about Himself to me that would blow my mind. It wasn’t long after that I was going about my day, and the phrase “the joy of the Lord is my strength” popped into my head. Now I hadn’t heard that phrase or read it anywhere recently, but I didn’t think much of it. I carried on, and there it was again, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” The thought continued to be there consistently throughout the day. I was a little slow at figuring out that God was trying to tell me something, but I eventually got there. Once I realized that God was trying to show me something, I stopped what I was doing and turned my focus toward Him, “OK God, what do you want me to grasp from this statement?”

Here comes the aforementioned blowing of my mind. In that heart-to-heart with God, He revealed to me that for me in my circumstance, this statement was not about me having cheerful trust in Him. Instead, it was GOD’S JOY IN ME, as in, joy in WHO I AM to Him and how much He loves me, that would give me the strength to walk through my dark valley.

Umm, HELLO…WOW, what a revelation.

Have you ever looked at someone, whether it be your significant other or your children and just burst with joy in who they are? Like the kind that comes deep within you that you can’t contain, you just want to squeeze them and never let go? When you think of them, you can’t help but smile? The thought of them makes your heart so happy? God showed me His joy in me was like that but infinitely greater. And it is His joy in me that I can hold on to and draw my strength from to face the pain in my life.

While we can’t avoid life’s trials and tribulations, we can come through the fire knowing our Father is proud of us, cherishes us, loves us, is in our corner and is bursting with joy over us. And that, my friends, is where our strength comes from!

I don’t know what you may be going through or what dark days you may be facing in the future, but God knows. He wants you to embrace the truth that His joy in YOU will give you the strength you need through it all.

I love you, O Lord, my strength. Psalms 18:1.

Prayer

Father God, thank you that Your promises are true and trustworthy. We can hold tightly to the fact that we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death but have no need to fear because You, the Great Shepherd, is with us. Thank you for reminding us just how valuable we are to You and truly how much You love us. In those hard times, help us to go beyond just having cheerful trust that You are with us but grasp with every fibre of our being that our strength to carry on is a product of Your JOY in who we are. Amen!