STEPS ON THE WAY

Romans 15:13, Paul is speaking a blessing. He says: „And the God of hope may fill you with all Joy and peace in your Faith.“ 
Next up, we have the breastplate of righteousness. In Proverbs 10:28 it says: „The hopeful expectation of the Righteous is Joy.“ and in Psalm 97:11 it states that light and joy are sown for the righteous one, who is upright in his heart. How much clearer can it be? :)
So let`s continue with the belt of truth: In the third letter of John, we can hear the very heart of the father, as he explains that he has no greater Joy, than seeing his children walk in the Truth (3.John 1:4). Also in 1.Corinthians 13:6, Paul teaches us that love is always rejoicing in the truth. And even the Author of Psalm 51 says in verse 8: „You find Joy in the Truth that`s inside.“ There`s definitely a joy-connection with the belt of truth!

But what`s with the sword of the spirit? In Galatians 5, we are being taught on the fruit of the spirit. And in verse 22 we find, that one part of what the spirit produces in us, is Joy! :) 
For the last part of Gods armor, we have an angel teaching us the connection. His famous speech can – among other places – be found in Luke 2:10, where he proclaims: „Do not be afraid! I am bringing you Good News, that will cause great Joy for all the people!“ And now we, clothed in Gods shoes of the readiness for the gospel of peace, are becoming like the shepherds, that went out in great joy to share the good news they had just received.

Wow! I loved so much what I found! But what is all of this telling us now? 

Well. The bible tells us to „rejoice in the Lord always“, because this is Gods will for us (Pilippians 4:4 & 1.Thessalonians 5:16). On first look, that might seem impossible though. And God knows that too! He even allows the wise man to say: „There is a time for everything… a time for weeping, and a time for rejoicing…“ (Ecclesiastes 3:4) But even though there are these seasons in life, God is putting a huge emphasize on keeping your joy! So why is that? 

I found a first glimpse of the answer, when I noticed something surprising in a bible passage. It was the story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was in much distress and great fear, because of what he was going to endure, so he asked his disciples to pray with him. But whenever he came back from his position of more private prayer, he found his disciples asleep. And here comes the interesting part: It doesn`t just says that they were sleeping… It says they were asleep because „they were tired from their sorrow“! (Luke 22:45) That got me thinking... Because, if sorrow makes us tired, even so much that we can fall asleep, that means sorrow is rightaway dangerous for battles! Just imagine someone becoming so sorrowful and joyless on a battlefield, that he literally falls asleep – he would be totally guardless! I never heard of that happening anywhere in the physical, but just transfer that matter into the spirit! No matter how good the armor is that you might be wearing: when you allow sorrow to put you to sleep, you`re as good as dead!
And even if the sorrow in us is not directly making us fall asleep - it still makes us unfit for battle! Proverbs 15:13 says that the absence of joy is sadness, and that this sadness leads to „a crushed spirit“. And who of us could still fight well, when his spirit is crushed?? Every commander wants his soldiers to be of good courage, not afraid and fully sure of victory! 
So, no wonder Jesus continually asks us to stay awake, alert, sober - and joyful! It is, so that we can withstand the attacks of the enemy! Jesus says: „The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.“ (Mathew 26:41) And because our flesh is so weak, we need to put on the armor of HIS willing spirit! So that this pirit - the very spirit of God - can produce joy in us, that keeps us awake. A joy that keeps us fighting, that keeps us focused, that keeps us hopeful. A joy, that sustains every part of our armor, keeps us in thankfulness and awe in worship, and with that breaks our prison doors and confuses the enemy into destruction!

Because that is exactly what „the Joy of the Lord“ makes us do! 
Just think of Paul and Silas: They even experienced someone turning to the Lord, „just“ because they chose joy over despair, which made them worship in prison! Their praises literally set them free! (Acts 16:20-34)
Or think of Jehoshaphat: When he had to fight a huge and impossible battle, he put the Lords worshippers in the front line of his army, leading everyones focus on the Lords might. And what happened was, that his enemy completely destroyed himself! (2.Chronicles 20:20-24)

And I think exactly that is the secret: Satan couldn`t destroy Job, because his first reaction to tragedy was: „May the name of the Lord be praised!“ (Job 1:21). And Satan couldn`t destroy Paul & Silas, or Jehoshaphat, because their first reaction was: „May the name of the Lord be praised!!!“ And how is this praising possible, if not with the active choosing of joy?

I have met many people over the years, who had the question, as to HOW exactly we are to put on the armor of God. And that question makes sense - I mean how do you put on a „spiritual helmet of salvation“, if you can`t just grab it from the shelf in your room? And I think one part of the answer is to take good care of our joy! 
We can pray with the Psalmist, that God would restore to us the joy of salvation; and next to just knowing that the spirit is a sword, we can choose to immerse in his spirit so much, that his fruit of patience, self-control, etc., and JOY is coming forth in us! Because if we learn to keep our joy, even in the most unfavorable circumstances, we have naturally put on, sustained and strengthened our armor! And then we can say with Habbakkuk: 

„Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Lord, God, is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.“ (Habbakkuk 3:17-19)

And if we are truly there, then NOTHING can take us down! Because when we sustain ourselves in Gods armor, we are „able to withstand on the evil day“, and when we have it all finished, we will still be „standing firm“! (Ephesians 6:13)

With that being said: Keep fighting for your joy! :)