The Joy of the Lord Is Your Strength

I am not a big fan of “sound bites” and “bumper sticker” thinking. I don’t like it in political life, because the world is far more complicated than anyone wants to admit, and I don’t like it for personal life for the same reason. Bumper stickers are fine as bumper stickers, and sound bites are fine as political theater, but life is complicated.

That said, I have discovered there are some bumper sticker ideas that make a great deal of sense. In fact, there is one phrase that I have found true on every occasion. That phrase is not “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). In context, Paul isn’t talking about getting a new job, acing a test, or getting a raise, which is how we often use it. No, Paul is talking about how Christ strengthened him to do the hard things in life: dealing with hunger, loss, and hurt, as well as with abundance. I agree with Paul absolutely that we can do all things through Christ, but without the context, we can twist that truth into places it was never meant to go. Christ strengthens us to handle the hard things life throws at us.

The phrase I find useful in nearly every setting, though, comes from Nehemiah, and I have no doubt it also lives on a bumper sticker somewhere: “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Understanding the context helps, but once that is understood, the truth can be used almost anywhere in life. In context, Nehemiah has gone to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city so that the people can live in safety and begin to flourish. As the project nears completion, Ezra, the scribe, comes and brings the books of the Law (that is, the Torah). Nehemiah and Ezra work together to gather all the people to hear the Law, and when they hear it, they are struck with grief, probably because they had never heard the Law before and realized that they had been doing wrong in God’s sight. But Nehemiah stands up and tells them not to grieve, but to celebrate with a feast and to look after their poorer neighbors so they could celebrate too. Then he spoke these words, that the joy of the Lord is their strength.

The reason I am perfectly happy for this to be a bumper sticker is because once we think it through, it applies everywhere. For instance, when I feel overwhelmed or anxious, my thoughts and my spirit spiral in tight circles. I can’t think of solutions, because all I see are problems. Fear constricts our vision, and because our vision is narrowed, a solution-or any good solution-could be hitting us over the head while we are blind to it. However, tapping into joy – not happiness or glee, but joy – opens the eyes, expands the vision, and makes things possible. Diving deeper into the idea – what I often do when I am fearful is look for quick fixes, easy solutions, distractions, or anything that could free me from fear. The reason I want to escape fear is often because beneath the fear is judgment, and I am judging myself, often in ways God would not judge me.

Here, I run into another possible, though longer, bumper sticker saying: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” (1 John 4:18) Getting back to the idea of fear constricting my thoughts because I am judging myself wrongly, when I fear judgment, I want to blame someone else, something else, or just wallow in self-pity. Blame, shifting responsibility, or pitying ourselves has never helped anyone. In fact, that is why our world seems so upside down these days. We are as a nation living under a blanket of fear, and until we throw that blanket off, we will not see the light of a better day. Thus, the joy of the Lord can be our strength.

Allow me to elaborate on this joy and how it strengthens us. Nehemiah is not talking about being silly or ignoring reality. He isn’t distracting anyone either, as if he had YouTube videos to pacify the people. To have the joy of the Lord is to see reality and take it seriously, but not to take ourselves too seriously. Would a good God create us only to have us suffer, hurt each other, and hurt ourselves? Would a loving God place us in a world without beauty or hope? Would a God of steadfast love abandon us as soon as we had transgressed? No, for all the trouble, all the problems, and indeed, all the mistakes and wrong you and I perpetuate, a loving God provides a way to turn it around.

That way is Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection. And joy is the response when we are forgiven, when we find hope, when we are loved despite ourselves, and joy is the response when we do not know what we should do, because we realize we do not have to possess the answers. We need only possess a loving relationship with our Maker, with our neighbors, and with ourselves. The rest will be sorted out one day at a time. We cannot think our way out of a problem we have felt our way into. Rather, when we find the Light, we celebrate and move into the light!

In truth, I have here only scratched the surface of this “bumper sticker” theology. It goes even deeper than I can express. I encourage you to contemplate it and practice it. Test it out when life is challenging, and I pray you will also discover that “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”