In a world constantly shifting between highs and lows, many of us find ourselves on an emotional roller coaster, with our inner state hostage to external events. We await the next promotion, the resolution of a problem, or improved circumstances before we allow ourselves to experience joy. Yet Scripture presents a radically different picture of joy—one that doesn’t rise and fall with life’s circumstances but remains steadfast regardless of what surrounds us.

Philippians 4:4
New King James Version
[4] Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Notice that Paul doesn’t write, “Rejoice when everything is going well” or “Rejoice once your problems are solved.” The command is clear and unqualified: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And in case we missed it, he repeats himself for emphasis. This call to continuous joy might seem impossible when we consider the context in which these words were written—from a prison cell by a man facing possible execution.

This context is crucial to understanding biblical joy. Paul wasn’t writing from a resort or during a season of prosperity, he was in chains. The man commanding perpetual rejoicing couldn’t even choose when to eat or sleep. His freedom was gone, his comfort minimal, his future uncertain. Yet from this place of profound limitation came the most liberating command: “Rejoice always.” This wasn’t theoretical theology; it was tested and proven in the crucible of suffering.

What did Paul understand that we often miss? He grasped that biblical joy is not based on what’s happening around you, but on who is living within you.

Paul understood that his circumstances didn’t determine his spiritual condition because the risen Christ lived within him. The same hands that were bound in chains housed the Spirit of the God who created the universe. This indwelling presence was the source of a joy that prison walls couldn’t contain. Today, we face our own prisons—whether it’s the confines of a difficult marriage, the restrictions of financial hardship, or the limitations of chronic illness. These circumstances feel like chains, but they have no power to restrain the joy that comes from Christ’s presence within us.

James echoes this counter-cultural perspective:
James 1:2-3
New King James Version
[2] My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
[3] knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

The word “count” here is significant—it’s an accounting term. James is telling us to make a deliberate calculation that places trials in the “joy” column of our books. This isn’t natural; it’s supernatural. Today, when your health fails, your retirement fund diminishes, or your children stray, the natural calculation sees only loss. But covenant joy recalculates, seeing the hidden dividends of tested faith, developed patience, and deepened dependence on God.

James doesn’t suggest we pretend trials aren’t difficult. Rather, he invites us to “count” or consider these challenges through a different lens; one that sees beyond present pain to eternal purpose.

Jesus Himself exemplified this transcendent joy:
Hebrews 12:2
New King James Version
[2] Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus endured history’s most excruciating execution not by denying the pain but by accessing a joy that transcended it. In the garden of Gethsemane, His sweat became like blood—He felt the full weight of what was coming. Yet He moved forward, powered by a joy rooted in something beyond His present agony. Your cancer diagnosis, your child’s addiction, your impending foreclosure—these are your Gethsemane moments. They’re real and they’re painful. But like Jesus, you can access a joy not based on the avoidance of suffering but on the assurance of God’s greater purpose being fulfilled through it.

Even facing the cross, history’s most unjust suffering, Jesus accessed a joy that empowered Him to endure. His joy wasn’t found in the avoidance of pain but in the assurance of God’s greater purpose being fulfilled through it.

Too often, we postpone joy while waiting for better days, not realizing that joy isn’t found in better circumstances but in a better covenant. The new covenant doesn’t promise the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ in the midst of it:

John 16:33
New King James Version
[33] “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Notice Jesus doesn’t say “cheer up, I’ll take away your troubles.” He says, “be of good cheer” while acknowledging tribulation will come. This is the paradox of covenant joy; it coexists with tribulation because it’s sourced in a victory already secured. Today, in a world plagued by pandemic, political division, economic uncertainty, and personal crisis, we’re not waiting for better days to experience joy. We’re anchoring to the better covenant that places Christ’s victory at the center of our narrative, regardless of our current chapter.

Life doesn’t have to be easy for your spirit to overflow with gladness. When your joy is anchored in Jesus rather than in future outcomes, you discover a wellspring that external circumstances cannot dry up. This doesn’t mean you won’t experience grief, disappointment, or pain. Jesus Himself was described as “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). But beneath these very real human emotions can flow a current of supernatural joy that sustains you through the darkest valleys.

The early Christians demonstrated this paradoxical joy:
Acts 5:41
New King James Version
[41] So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

This might be the most counterintuitive response in Scripture. These disciples had just been beaten—their bodies bruised and bleeding, yet they rejoiced not in spite of their suffering but because of it. They counted it an honor to be identified with Christ through persecution. Today, you might face “being cancelled” for your faith, being passed over for promotion because of your ethical stance, or experiencing ridicule for your biblical convictions. The world sees only shame in such moments, but covenant joy sees privilege—the privilege of sharing in the reproach of Christ.

It’s important to understand that joy is not the denial of difficulty; it is choosing to trust that God has got you covered, especially when it doesn’t seem like it, and living your life according to that belief. It’s the confidence that, as Romans 8:28 promises, “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

This kind of joy is supernatural. It’s the fruit of God’s Spirit working within us (Galatians 5:22), not the product of favorable circumstances around us. It’s available to every believer, not through positive thinking or denying reality, but through abiding in Christ:

John 15:11
New King James Version
[11] “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Notice Jesus doesn’t offer just any joy, but “My joy”—the same divine, transcendent joy that carried Him through His earthly ministry and suffering.

So how do we practically cultivate this transcendent joy?
1. Shift your focus from circumstances to covenant: When troubles arise like mountains, remind them of your God. In the same vein, remind yourself of God’s promises that never change.
2. Practice gratitude daily: Thankfulness is the soil in which joy grows. Even in difficult seasons, there is a lot of evidence of God’s goodness to acknowledge.
3. Immerse yourself in Scripture: God’s Word realigns our perspective when the world distorts it.
4. Fellowship with joy-filled believers: Joy is contagious, and surrounding yourself with those who model it helps it take root in your own life.
5. Choose joy as an act of faith: Joy is both a fruit of the Spirit and a choice we make. Sometimes we must choose it before we feel it.

Today, practice choosing joy, especially in areas of your life that seem unyielding. This doesn’t mean denying real challenges or putting on a fake smile. Rather, it means looking those challenges in the face and declaring, “My God is greater than this. His promises are surer than my problems. His presence is sweeter than my pain.”

Perhaps you’re facing a health crisis with no improvement in sight, a financial hole that keeps getting deeper, a relationship that remains fractured despite your best efforts, or a dream that seems permanently deferred. These situations feel immovable, unchangeable. But they don’t have the power to determine your joy unless you give them that power.

Remember, you don’t have to wait for life to get easier to experience joy. Your joy is not founded on changing circumstances but on an unchanging Christ who promises never to leave you nor forsake you.

Prayer Point
Father, I choose to anchor my joy in Your presence within me rather than in my changing circumstances. In areas of my life that seem unyielding help me remember that my joy flows from who You are, not what I’m facing. Today, I deliberately shift my focus from what surrounds me to Who lives within me.