“Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”  Psalm 51

“Therefore you have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.”  Jesus in John 16:22

Joy thieves.  Entities that threaten to steal our joy.  You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?  You’ve probably had them visit you.  I know them personally.  They’ve come to visit me in the past sometimes on a daily basis.  They made an extended visit for about five years, taking up residence in my home and my heart.  Joy thieves come in numerous forms and have a lot of different names. I’m going to list a few with whom I’m most familiar.

First, and most obvious, is despair.  Sometimes life gives us lemons, and we simply can’t make lemonade. Even the greatest saints suffered from despair.  Elijah is a prime example!  Or the disciples after the death of Jesus.  Despair will take possession of our joy and hold it—and us—for ransom.

Second is depression.  This is closely related to despair. Their sisters, if you will.  Depression follows close on the heals of despair. All seems dark. There is no light.  Life seems pointless.  Sorrow and sadness obfuscate the potential or possibility to feel anything, let alone joy.

Third, and perhaps responsible for the first two, is the devil.  I believe in the presence of evil, and that sometimes it takes shape in a tangible form.  I’ve seen and experienced the evil one firsthand, both in others and myself.  While most commonly connected to horrible and hateful acts, the real threat of the devil is far more subtle.  The devil is an expert about stealthily robbing one of one’s joy.  I believe that one method the devil uses to do so is by making people “religious” instead of spiritual or faithful. If one is religious, the focus is on serving or doing things for God.  The life of faith becomes drudgery and one ends up despising God and being bereft of joy.

Another joy thief is life in this world.  I can’t watch the news.  There is so many people that I come in contact with that have problems, I refuse to pile more upon my plate.  The troubles in this world, the horrible lives that people live is enough to rob one of joy.

Of course, how could I omit other people as a possible offender?  Have you ever been around a “Debbie Downer”?  The kind of person that can only see the bad side of life.  The person who will throw cold water on any good possibility.  While I will listen to people and empathize with them in the problems their facing, I refuse to take on their problems as my own. It’s a sure recipe to losing my joy.

Finally, and I kind of hesitate to even mention this one, is God.  I think God might steal—or at least allow—our joy to be stolen.  The purpose is beyond me, other than to say that somehow we can still find joy in the darkest moments spent with the Divine.

So where does that leave us?  How does one guard against the joy thieves?  I don’t think we really can.  However what we can do is not lose sight that ultimately any of the thieves I’ve mentioned, or the countless others, have no power to take from us the joy that Jesus speaks of.  It is the joy of Life.  New Life. Purposeful Life.  Life lived in the Presence of God.  Life lived in the Spirit, and with the Spirit, and by the Spirit.  It is a life of Love.  Love that reaches down and into us even at the most desperate and joyless of times to open our eyes and our hearts to see and feel the truth that these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is being revealed in Christ. 

For me I found that even in the midst of the most horrible darkness I could find a morsel of joy in the most minor of things.  Each day I would look for at least one event, occasion or person that brought me joy.  It was an invaluable practice that has paid the dividend of allowing me to see joy in almost everything, even and including the “bad” things in life.

Where are you today dear friend?  Are you battling a joy thief?  What little thing can you see or experience today that will restore some joy for you?

Or on the other hand, are you filled with joy?  Why is that?  What does it feel and look like?  With whom will you share it?