The Oil of Joy: Choosing Joy in Every Circumstance

The Oil of Joy: Finding Strength in Every Season

There's something profoundly powerful about joy that transcends our circumstances. Not happiness—that fleeting emotion dependent on favorable conditions—but true, abiding joy that flows from a deeper source.

Consider this: What if joy isn't something we need to chase or manufacture, but something already available to us, right here, right now?

When Circumstances Threaten Joy

Picture a bitterly cold winter day when everything seems to conspire against your plans. The snow is falling, the roads are treacherous, and every reasonable person has decided to stay home. You could easily justify staying comfortable, avoiding the inconvenience, focusing on all the reasons not to venture out.

Yet sometimes, in those very moments when we push past our reluctance and show up anyway, something sacred happens. When we gather despite the obstacles, when we worship despite our circumstances, God meets us in unexpected ways.

The truth is, we live in a world that gives us countless reasons to lose our joy. Turn on the news, scroll through social media, look at the brokenness around us—there's no shortage of material for despair. The enemy of our souls wants us weak, distracted, fixated on everything that's going wrong. And when we lose joy, we lose strength.

Scripture tells us plainly: "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Without that joy, we become vulnerable, weakened, unable to stand firm against life's storms.

Beauty for Ashes

Isaiah 61:3 offers a beautiful exchange: "To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Notice the imagery—God doesn't give us a small measure of joy, but oil. Oil flows. It runs. It spreads. It's not easily contained or removed.

This isn't a little dab of temporary happiness. This is overflowing, abundant, persistent joy that sticks with you throughout the day, regardless of what you face.

The ancient Israelites understood mourning. They had been held captive, lived in exile, and returned to find their beloved city in ruins. Beside the rivers of Babylon, they wept, hanging their harps on the willow trees. Their captors demanded songs, but they asked, "How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?" (Psalm 137).

Sound familiar? How often do we feel like we're living in a foreign land, surrounded by values that contradict everything we believe? How can we have joy when morality seems corrupted, when everything feels upside down?

Yet God's answer remains the same: He gives us joy in exchange for mourning.

Great Joy for All People

When angels appeared to shepherds on that first Christmas night, their message was clear: "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people" (Luke 2:10). Not just ordinary joy—great joy. Mega joy. Exceedingly great joy.

The wise men who followed the star "rejoiced with exceedingly great joy" when they found what they were seeking (Matthew 2:10). This wasn't mild contentment. This was overwhelming, abundant, can't-contain-it joy.

And notice the language: "I bring you good tidings." Not "I will bring you" or "someday you'll have." The joy is present tense. It's here. It's now. Not somewhere else, not in some future circumstance, but right here, right now.

We often fall into the trap of conditional joy: "I'll be joyful when I get that promotion, finish that degree, meet that person, reach that goal." But that's happiness, not joy. Happiness depends on happenings. Joy is found in the presence of God.

Joy Must Be Released

The shepherds couldn't keep their joy to themselves. After encountering the Christ child, "they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child" (Luke 2:17). Real joy can't be contained, bottled up, or restrained. It flows out of your life into the lives of others.

Joy is meant to be released, not restrained.

If you experience joy only within the walls of a church building or during your private devotions, but no one in your everyday life experiences joy from you, something is missing. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and fruit is meant to be shared.

Someone wisely said, "Joy is the flag flown over the castle of my heart that tells everyone that the king is taking up residence today." When others see your joy, they recognize that something—Someone—greater is present in your life.

This doesn't mean being obnoxious or annoying. It means that when everyone around you is stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed by the season—when they've spent all their money, exhausted themselves with entertainment, and still feel empty—you represent something different. You embody the joy that only comes from knowing Jesus.

Choosing Joy in the Storm

God recognizes you. Just as He chose those shepherds—not the elite, not the powerful, but ordinary people doing their everyday work—He has chosen you. Before the foundation of the world, He chose you (Ephesians 1:4).

And because He has chosen you and given you joy, you must make the choice to embrace it. "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). This is a command, a decision, an act of will.

Consider a couple facing their darkest hour, overwhelmed by financial struggle, feeling so hopeless they contemplated ending their lives just before Christmas. Their circumstances hadn't changed overnight, but something shifted inside them. They chose to show up. They chose to worship. They chose joy even when everything around them remained difficult.

Sometimes we pray for God to calm the storm around us—and He does. We have biblical precedent for Jesus speaking peace to winds and waves. But sometimes the storm continues to rage, and instead, God calms the storm inside us. He gives us joy that defies logic, peace that surpasses understanding, strength that doesn't come from our circumstances but from His presence.

The Oil of Joy

This Christmas season, you may know someone desperately in need of joy. They've tried everything the world offers—buying gifts, attending parties, creating perfect moments—and still feel empty. They need to see the joy of Jesus reflected in your life.

Or perhaps you're the one who needs to be reminded that God has given you joy. Life's complexities have distracted you from this truth. The oil of joy is yours—overflowing, abundant, persistent. It's not dependent on your circumstances. It's found in His presence.

"In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).

Choose joy today. Not because everything is perfect, but because the King is in residence. Not because the storm has passed, but because He is with you in it. Not because you feel like it, but because joy is your strength.

Let it flow. Let it overflow. Let others see the flag flying over your heart, declaring that the King lives within.

Joy is right here. Right now. For you.