Nehemiah 8:10b: Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
God wants to give you joy in your life, not sorrow. This ‘joy of the Lord’ comes from God, and not from human or human activities. It definitely does not come from your Friday night’s ‘happy hour’.
What is this ‘joy’? If you check the word ‘joy’ in Hebrew, it is ‘khedvaw’. It means ‘joy, rejoicing, gladness’. When you read ‘the joy of the Lord’, it actually means ‘the joy belonging to God, depicting God, God’s joy, or joy from God.’
When Jesus died on the cross, He has already taken all your sorrows, wounds, pains, and griefs (Isaiah 53:4). He instead replaces these with ‘the joy of the Lord.’ So now you can have joy. And the good news is you don’t even need to work or pay for it. You just receive it gladly, and with an open heart. It’s as easy as this. It has been done for you when Jesus died on the cross. He has already taken all your sorrows, and has given you joy. Notice that ‘joy’ and ‘sorrow’ are total opposites.
When you have this joy from God, the bible says you’ll be strengthened. This joy inside of you will lead to strength that prevails over every situation outside of you. No wonder apostle Paul said, ‘rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4). He’s got this revelation about the joy of the Lord!
Proverbs 15:13 says ‘a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.’ The word ‘merry’ here also means ‘gladness, rejoice, joyful.’ The word ‘sorrow’ in this verse means ‘pain, wound.’ Friends, the joy inside of you will lead to the joy outside of you, and even your countenance will change! People will definitely see a difference in you. So, let go all your sorrows to Jesus. Let Him take all those sorrows, and receive the joy from heaven in exchange. This joy that comes from God will be your force, a fortress, and a strength that prevails over every outward circumstance of yours!
