Radiant Joyfulness

Radiant Joyfulness

Those who look to [the LORD] for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. . . . Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:5, 8

Twice in these two verses we see the word joy connected to the act of trusting. This kind of joy indwells and encompasses a woman and leads her to exclaim, “Oh, the joy!” even in the midst of suffering, frustration, or uncertainty. Throughout the Bible, God promises his people joy—not happiness, which is based on circumstances—but the ability to rejoice in his very nature and presence no matter what the circumstances are. In Psalm 16:11, for example, he says he will grant us the joy of his presence, which is a foretaste of the pleasure we will experience when we live with him forever. In today’s verses God offers not just a momentary lightness but radiant joy.

Perhaps, like me, you’ve met people who seem to have a special radiance about them, whether it’s evident in their words, in their actions, or simply in their very presence. After spending time with them, we walk away with not only curiosity about how they live in such shining, luminous joy but a desire to know and experience it for ourselves.

How can we radiate this kind of joy in the Lord? By looking for signs of God’s hand throughout the day, by seeking to know more of him, and by meditating on the wonder of his works instead of on the hassles and trials of this life. Once our perspective has shifted, we look with expectancy for ways he shows himself trustworthy, and when we see them, we find our fulfillment in him and are filled with joy. —CHERI

Dear Lord, help me to look to you and trust in you today, and may my own life be radiant with your joy. Thank you for the joy we experience on earth as a taste of the wild joy yet to come.

Joy has something within itself that is beyond happiness and sorrow. This something is called blessedness. . . . It makes the joy of life possible in pleasure and pain, in happiness and unhappiness, in ecstasy and sorrow. Where there is joy, there is fulfillment. And where there is fulfillment, there is joy.

—PAUL TILLICH (1886–1965), GERMAN AMERICAN THEOLOGIAN AND PHILOSOPHER