Barriers to Joy
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4). I am wondering how you just read that last sentence. If you are a follower of Jesus that verse may be familiar to you. And if you are in a season where the last thing you feel like doing is rejoicing, then that may make you feel guilty or irritated. How can I possibly rejoice in the Lord always if my circumstances are lousy?
On the other hand, if you are not a follower of Jesus you may scoff at that verse. Why and how is God (if He is even out there) worth rejoicing in any way? Consider this: If there indeed is a God/Designer and He created everything in the universe, including you and I, then wouldn’t it make sense that He knows what will ultimately enable us to rejoice and experience joy? God’s desire is not just that we would feel momentary happiness but that we would find ultimate joy and satisfaction in Him.
If that is not your current reality, I want to suggest some possible barriers that might be keeping you from experiencing that kind of joy and share how you can find it.
One of the reasons you may not be experiencing joy is that you may not have yet given your life to the Source of that joy—Jesus Christ.
If God designed you to experience the most satisfaction in Himself, then it only makes sense that you would experience it when you come to know Him personally. Acknowledging your sin and need for forgiveness - that Christ won on the cross for anyone who will turn to Him and believe - is the first step in being able to rejoice in the Lord.
Another reason you may not be experiencing joy is that you may have unmet or unrealistic expectations of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Perhaps you thought that if you began to follow Christ then your life would get better and easier. While Jesus does indeed offer abundant and eternal life, He never promised that this life would be easy for His followers. In fact, Jesus said the opposite. He said that we must die to ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-26). He also said that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart because He has already overcome the world (John 16:33).
You may not be experiencing joy in the Lord because of some unrepentant sin in your life.
If you have a close friend or spouse and you have done or said something hurtful, there is bound to be a major barrier in the relationship until a genuine apology is offered. In the same way, holding in unconfessed or unrepentant sin against God can be a barrier to experiencing joy. David, the author of Psalm 32 says, before he confessed his sin to God, that it felt like his bones were wasting away, but after acknowledging his sin God forgave the guilt of his sin.
Yet another reason you may not be rejoicing in the Lord is because you may not believe the fullness of the Gospel (good news).
Perhaps you do not know how incredibly much God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die in your place to save you from sin, death, Satan, and Hell. But He did not just save you from all those things, He also saved you for Himself—for a purpose and a mission. He saved you so that you might tell others just how much they are loved by God as well. If we do not intentionally live out this mission, we may not experience all the joy that God has for us.
Finally, you may not be experiencing joy because you do not have a long-term perspective.
All you may be able to see and feel currently is pain, anxiety, or discomfort. You may be trying to put all your time/energy into the security and comfort of this current life rather than the one to come. This life is so short compared to eternity. It will be over in the blink of an eye. When we can keep eternity in view, then we can still have joy even when our current circumstances are difficult. One day God will make all things new. Our current circumstances and this life are not the end of the story. God loves to take hard and difficult things and turn them into something beautiful for our good and His glory!
If one or more of those barriers exist for you, then you have an opportunity to do something about it. We do not always “feel” joy, but we can fight for it. We can choose it. We do not have to rejoice in our circumstances that can be unbearable at times, but we can always rejoice in the Lord who will never leave or forsake us.
