August 30, 2019 - Seasons

It’s been a busy, and an overwhelming, season. Too many friends and even family diagnosed with cancer in the last few weeks. The launch of the three WONDERFUL lifeGROUPs that I’m a part of - all within 4 days of each other. What seems like unending medical stuff, outside of cancer. I had my 45th eye injection yesterday, in addition to news that I now have fluid both IN and BEHIND the retina.

And then there’s that cancer!! 

Two trips to CTCA are coming up. I just checked the patient portal and there are 21 appointments scheduled within the next 2 weeks. I’ve got several scans, blood work, and visits with each member of our care team, in addition to the discussion with the oncologist regarding what’s next in treatment. 

In seasons like this, joy is so important to me. When I read this devo tonight, I wanted to share it because it explains, so much better than my tired mind can, a joy that defies cliches. That is what I find joy to be! It is a discipline and a posture as we navigate this road. I’m thankful for the book of Philippians, that gives a roadmap for how to walk through difficult times with joy and peace. 💕

JOY THAT DEFIES CLICHÉS

This verse is everywhere! Plastered across everything from bumper stickers to bracelets to t-shirts and framed art you can find these words:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This verse is incredibly popular. The trouble is, it is often taken out of context. Too often, these words are co-opted into a spiritual form of the American dream, upholding our ambitions for prosperity and personal success as if to say, “Through Christ, I can get that raise, buy that car, or afford the larger house!”

But this isn’t at all what Paul was saying. In order to understand it, this verse needs to be read within the broader chapter and letter, starting with the verses preceding it.

In verse 12, Paul offers a summary of all that he has endured throughout his life and ministry: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound… I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (v. 12). Paul has seen it all. He has experienced poverty and prosperity, gain and loss. Through it all his joy has persevered, unaffected by his circumstances. How? Because of Christ: “I can do all these things through him who strengthens me.”

In short, Paul isn’t talking about personal prosperity through Christ. He is talking about being content in Christ. He can endure any hardship and still rejoice because it is Christ alone who strengthens him. 

Plain and simple, Philippians 4:13 is about being content, no matter our circumstances. 

All of this gets to the heart of Philippians and this “joy” which Paul can’t stop talking about. His joy is not shiny or cliché. It’s not simple and easy and detached from what’s actually happening in the world. Paul wasn’t skipping around with a smile painted on his face. 

Instead, his joy was an act of willful defiance. 

This is exactly why Paul repeats the refrain again and again: “rejoice!” Paul isn’t gushing here. He isn’t tap-dancing over his pain. Instead, he is making a choice. He is practicing the habit of joy which has shaped him into the man he has become. For Paul, and for us, joy is a discipline. It’s something we commit to—whether we feel like it or not— and over time our souls are transformed. 

That’s why Philippians is such an important contribution to how we think about joy. It banishes all the clichés. Here is a man who is honest about his suffering and betrayal, which means we can be too. Grief does not lessen or dull the hope we have in Christ. The paradox of our faith is that we can hold sorrow and joy together in the same hands, even in the same moment. One doesn’t cancel out the other.

And let me tell you, the world needs this kind of joy. Fake joy isn’t cutting it, and neither is shallow joy. If we clamor after all the same things as the rest of the world, we aren’t any different than anyone else. Our joy is based on all the same things.

But true Christian joy—the “foolish” illogical kind—is the kind of joy that endures no matter what comes. This is the kind we’re promised in Christ. This defiant joy is complicated and messy and it isn’t built in a day, but it is the gritty joy our world is craving.” - Defiant Joy, Sharon Huddle Miller 

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬