Hearing His Voice #299

[Jesus prayed,] “I am coming to you. I told [my followers] many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.”

John 17:13

Jesus had some pretty big requests in His conversation with God the Father the night before the Crucifixion. He asked that His followers be kept safe from the evil one, that they would be one with God and with each other just as the Son and the Father were one, and that God would share His glory with them. Jesus talked about how He had shown Himself to them and had kept them safe in Him. And in mentioning what He had taught them, He made a statement that might defy our religious expectations: He taught them so they would have joy.

It has often been said in our churches and teachings that God’s goal is to make us holy, not happy, but the two go hand in hand. Jesus told His disciples that His words and their prayers were designed for the purpose of their joy (John 15:11; 16:24). In other words, the ultimate goal of God’s relationship with us is that we would experience fulfillment, satisfaction, and delight. Not necessarily pleasure all the time, though He grants us pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11). Not necessarily an absence of pain, though He is a refuge for us (Psalm 9:9). But in the long run, He wants us to be happy.

God’s words will, in general, produce joy in our lives. At times we may be made sorrowful by what He says (2 Corinthians 7:10), and we may need correction (Hebrews 12). But the general direction of His words is for our joy and happiness. He wants us to be fulfilled and satisfied in Him and His will for our lives, with nothing to dread, nothing to fear, nothing to shy away from. That’s one way we can know we’ve heard Him—the fruit of His voice is (or will be) joy. When He speaks, we will be filled.

Jesus, let me feast on Your words and experience the fullness of Your joy. I need satisfaction; I was designed to experience delight. May Your words produce pure, unbridled joy in my heart.