If you run the Christian race long enough, you or someone you care for will inevitably come to a point in the marathon where you are out of breath, your legs are on fire, and the next rest stop is nowhere in sight. Whether it be sickness, sorrow, loss, or loneliness, spiritual hurdles seem to come into our path at the most unexpected and unwelcome times. In those moments, it is common to be offered encouragements from well-meaning people that can fall flat. One of the most common phrases that I have heard time and time again across my years in the faith is: “remember to have joy in the Lord.”

While I believe there is an incredible theological truth within that statement, it is too often reduced to a platitude. So, the question is: what is this joy and how is it experienced?

What is often missed is actually inherent to the phrase that joy has a trajectory, a direction. The encouragement is not to simply have joy but that it is found in the Lord, not in what He gives, or the circumstances He ordains, but in God Himself. Our joy ought to lead us into, and flow out of, the worship of our Creator.

Because this joy is not dependent on circumstance, it holds steady in both the highs and the lows of life. It is this kind of joy that enables us to embody the truth Paul writes—that whether “in plenty or in want,” our fulfillment is found in Christ alone. We can celebrate and praise, we can weep and still wonder at His goodness.

To those who are suffering, do not strive to force joy, but look to Christ, in whom it is found. And to those who would comfort, do not rush to speak, but dwell with them in their grief, remembering that the joy of the Lord does not replace our weeping, but is present even in the midst of it.

Written across the pages of history is humanity’s desperate cry for a saviour. One who could look upon our sad estate and lift us out of the muck and mire. So, every time the question echoes in your mind of whether God loves you, or is near, or understands your pain, or listens to your prayers, all you need to do is look upon the Cross and be assured that the answer to all those questions is a resounding and glorious “yes!” It is there in that unshakeable confidence that we find true joy. It is rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39, ESV