8. The God Who Rejoices
What is our perception of God? Can the God who constantly beholds the sin, sorrow and problems of humanity possibly be happy? Can the God who compassionately shares not only our problems, but also sees those of untold millions of people possibly be joyful?
Many of us unconsciously share to some extent the common perception of God that sees him as a brooding figure focusing on whether we are obeying his laws or not and the many problems humans create for themselves. It's hardly a joyful image and is reflected in countless pictures of Jesus as the suffering servant weighed down with the cares and sins of humanity. But at least three encouraging scriptures come to mind which show God in a very different light.
First, in 1 Timothy 1:11 and 6:15-16, in many translations, Paul speaks of "the blessed God;" but the word translated "blessed" is actually from a Greek word that means "happy" as much as it means "blessed" – so we could just as well speak of "the happy God."
The next scripture that comes to mind is in Luke: "… I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninetynine righteous persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7 ESV). "Joy in heaven" doesn't mean with the angels but not with God. Saying joy in heaven is like saying "dinner at the White House." We would expect the President to be participating in any White House dinner. So when we say joy in heaven, we have to remember it is God's house, it is his party, and we need to see this as a reflection of the personality of God. Joy in heaven is synonymous with the joy and happiness of God.
The final scripture that comes to mind is Matthew 25:14-30 – the parable of the "talents" or "pounds." This is an interesting parable at many levels, but think a little about one of its details. In the story, the master goes away, leaving talents (units of money) in the care of his servants. At his eventual return the servant given five talents shows how he has doubled them through his work. The master then says to that servant: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (vs. 21). Notice the master does not say "You have done well, so come and take on some of my heavy responsibility," but rather, "Come and share your master's happiness!" All translations have it that way. There is nothing that lets us get away from this simple meaning.
We could probably add dozens of scriptures from the Psalms and elsewhere showing that those who walk in God's ways are happy and that must, of course, apply to God also. Despite his compassion and care for those who hurt now, God sees the big picture. He knows what he has planned and that ultimately all the hurt and sadness of physical existence will be wiped away (Isaiah 25:8, Revelation 21:4) and that it will have been worth the pain (Romans 8:18). So God is a joyful God who looks beyond the present pain – just as he tells us to do.
The lesson for us in these scriptures is clearly that if God can be joyful because he is able to look to the end result of his plan – with God's help, so can we.
PART TWO:
ENCOURAGEMENT IN GROWING
"Then the church … enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers" (Acts 9:31).