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Psalm 31:1-7; 16:7-11 David endured enormous difficulty with enemies, betrayal, fear, guilt, loss, and danger, yet his writing repeatedly returned to joy.
Acts 16:24-25; Philippians 2:17-18, 4:4 Paul’s suffering did not diminish his joy.
Hebrews 12:2 [Jesus] for the joy set before him endured.
How did they endure? – The joy of Yahweh was their strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
From a neurological perspective, joy is more than simply feeling good. It is a positive emotional state of mind generated by the brain when neural circuits involved in reward, attachment, and well-being become activated, producing feelings of delight, contentment, gratitude, or deep satisfaction. Simply stated: JOY.
Joy not only affects our state of mind, but also the autonomic nervous system by: lowering stress hormones such as cortisol, reducing heart rate and blood pressure, improving immune function, and increasing rest and digestive activity.
Not to be confused with pleasure or happiness, joy is a deeper, often relational or meaningful positive emotional state that can coexist even with hardship.
“God designed our brains to run on joy like a car runs on fuel. Our brains desire joy more than any other thing.” James Wilder, author of The Life Model: Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You and The Other Half of Church.
Joy is received when we see the sparkle in someone’s eye that conveys “I love you and I am happy to be with you.” It is first initiated when a mother holds her baby in her arms in the early months of life, communicating connectedness, safety, belonging, value, acceptance, and most of all, love. The mother’s loving embrace and glance build the joy center in the child’s brain. It can continue to grow from family members and friends.
However, far too many people are deprived of this development because of improper parenting, or sickness, or crises due to war, or poverty, etc.
Parents are encouraged to hold their babies that are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). A premature or sick newborn’s nervous system is still developing. Gentle, close contact with a parent can provide important sensory and emotional regulation.
Research has found that skin-to-skin contact can help:
- Stabilize heart rate and breathing
- Improve oxygen saturation
- Help regulate body temperature
- Reduce stress and crying
- Support more stable sleep
- Promote breastfeeding and feeding development
- Support weight gain and growth
- Strengthen parent-infant bonding
There is also an important neurological aspect. A baby’s developing brain is constantly receiving information from the environment. The parent’s warmth, heartbeat, voice, smell, touch, and breathing provide organized, reassuring sensory input. The baby’s brain is learning, I am safe, I belong, I am valuable, I am loved, all of which builds joy.
This is particularly significant for a premature infant because the NICU environment can involve bright lights, alarms, medical procedures, handling, and separation from the mother. Appropriate skin-to-skin contact provides a very different kind of sensory experience: warmth, containment, human touch, and familiar biological rhythms. Long before a child can understand words, the brain receives information through touch, facial expression, voice, warmth, and physical presence.
Many people struggle with sadness and depression because their joy center was never properly developed, or the challenges of life have gradually drained their joy. Without a healthy capacity for joy, navigating life’s difficulties can become overwhelming, leading some people to seek escape rather than develop healthy ways of coping.
As Christians, we have two very powerful effective ways to build our joy center – our relationship with our Father and with His family, Jesus and the believers. Joy comes from the face of God and people who love you. We all need FACE TIME!
Numbers 6:24-26 Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face [panim] shine on you and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance [panim] on you and give you peace.
Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence [panim] is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
The Hebrew word “panim” translated literally is “face” and, when it is translated figuratively, “presence.”
Biblically, joy isn’t merely the brain responding to pleasant circumstances. Joy is deeply connected to relationship—knowing God, being aware of His presence, and delighting in Him.
Psalm 89:14-16 They know the joyful sound because they walk in light of His face: “countenance” is paneh – “face.”
Psalm 31:16, 19-20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence.
Psalm 67:1 cause His face to shine upon us.
Psalm 80:3, 7, 19 When Yahweh shines His face upon us we experience joy.
What does God’s face look like to you? Is it guilt, shame, disappointment, or disgust?
What is your self-talk? Do you bask in His light? Do you know His unfailing love for you? Do you see a god of vengeance or a Father who looks on you like a nursing mother?
Zephaniah 3:17 Yahweh your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult [rejoice] over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
Psalm 149:4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in His people;
Jeremiah 31:3 Yahweh appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
Micah 7:18 He delights in unchanging love.
Romans 8:29-39 Who do you stay your mind on – yourself or your Father?
1 John 3:1-2 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
David, Paul, and Jesus gave God space and time to allow God to nurture them by reading and thinking the Scriptures, meditation, and self-talk focused on God and Jesus and not self. God is in Christ and Christ is in you. They are always with you.
Psalm 139:6-12; 5:11-12 The word “refuge” occurs 46 times in Psalms. The refuge isn’t merely a physical place where God hides someone from trouble. God Himself is the refuge.
The second way Christians receive joy is the sparkle in the eye of fellow believers that conveys “I love you and I am happy to be with you.”
God’s face shines through the face of loving engaged believers. We need each other and we need fellowship with people who are joyful to be with us.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 Joy is experienced in a relationship when someone’s face lights up when they look upon you with love.
Acts 2:41-47 Face time at church, prayer partner, mentor, socialize.
Galatians 5:13-14, 22 The fruit of the spirit has a progression.
LOVE → JOY → PEACE → PATIENCE
EXERCISE:
Gratitude increases your capacity for joy. Try this joy-building exercise:
- Think of a memory that makes you feel grateful and connect with God in that memory.
- Give the memory a short title.
- What do you think God might have been wanting to impress on you by the memory?
- Start a list of grateful memories with the goal of having ten.
- Use this list to go into five minutes of nonverbal gratitude every day.
