Forward

Part 1: Forward in Joy

Series HomeSermon Archive

Sermon Info

Summary

Sometimes life doesn’t go as we planned. 2020 is like that for all of us. Yet, when the apostle Paul found himself in prison in Rome, he didn’t sit and feel sorry for himself. He moved forward in his faith and in advancing the Good News of Jesus. Because of Paul’s commitment, we have this incredible letter he wrote, Philippians, and Paul had some serious joy in his life. Where’s your focus today? If you focus on your problems, you get stuck in life. When you focus on Jesus, you are filled with joy and you move forward. Choose to move forward in Christ today.

Content

Forward: Joy

Joy as a Choice

Do you remember the last time that something put you in a foul mood? Was it the person that cut you off in traffic? Or what about the person that was rude to you at work? Or was it the task that came up that you weren’t expecting to have to complete by the end of the day? 

When it comes down to it, there are many different things that can spoil our days. While some of these things may be seemingly menial and fairly insignificant, there are others that are very life-altering and difficult situations that end up having long-lasting effects in your life. Regardless of how big or small, we cannot have control over what happens in our lives. We cannot know what trials the next day will hold. That is simply out of our control.

However, the one element that we can control is our response. Each time that we are faced with a difficult situation, we have a choice to make: we can choose to let the circumstance define our attitude, or we can choose to let Jesus define us. When we choose Jesus, we are choosing JOY.

Joy is a choice to say, “Jesus, I may not know what you are doing through this situation yet, but I trust that you are still at work.” Joy begins with prayer. Prayer allows us to align our minds with Christ’s; we focus less on the situation at hand and move our attention onto God and His plan and purpose for us. 

What the Bible Says about Joy

In the book of Philippians, Paul uses the word joy on 19 separate occasions. At the start of his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Paul begins with speaking of his joy in his partnership in the Gospel because of the confidence that he has in Christ. 

Paul’s joy comes from an overflow of his love for Christ and His work. As a man who faced many challenges, trials, and struggles, Paul could have made the choice to complain, grumble, or even give up. Rather than choosing the negative, he chose joy. He rejoiced in his struggles and trials because his joy was rooted in Christ and Him alone. 

James also emphasizes the significance of choosing joy: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3) Joy holds the power to grow and strengthen our faith because as we choose joy in the midst of hardship, we are choosing to pursue and trust Jesus over succumbing to our difficulties.

Over and over again, God’s Word demonstrates for us the impact that joy can have in our walk with Christ. Like we see in Paul’s life, joy propels us forward in faith, trusting that no matter the circumstance, it is God who goes before us, and it is Him that we trust to take care of us, come what may. It is a commitment and a choice that he made, and it’s the same choice that we have to make in our lives.


Why We Can Have Joy Today

The bottom line is we cannot control what happens to us in life. Try as we may, our life circumstances may change day by day, and we simply will not be able to change the outcome of situations. However, the hope that we do have is that our God is in control. He is sovereign and good. He knows exactly what will happen in our lives tomorrow. He knows what His plan is for our lives before we are even born. He is on the throne of not only the whole universe, but also over each of our lives. He cares about even the smallest things in your life. 

This truth should bring us freedom and peace that, even in the most difficult life circumstances, we are not alone. We have our all-powerful and all-knowing God on our side, and we can trust Him. Therefore, we can have joy. Our joy is driven by our trust in the Father. We can choose to focus less on the problems of today and, instead, focus on Jesus. We can walk forward in faith, not knowing what tomorrow may bring, because we believe in who Jesus says He is.

Find joy in the trials, friend, because you can trust that your good Father has gone before you and will not let you down.

Supporting Sermon(s): 

More in the Series

Series HomeSermon Archive