The Pattern of Joy

Based on 2 Chronicles 10-12, Psalm 126

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
Psalms 126:5‭-‬6.

Sow in tears? Reap in joy? Why does joy start out in hardship? Because J.O.Y. is putting ourselves LAST! Jesus, Others, Yourself! I know I've mentioned this before & it's so true, since the very first time I heard this pattern spoken! It even was true in the Old Testament with Rehoboam Solomon's son. If he had only listened to God in the beginning, his life would have been a lot more joyful!

"Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee. And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed."
2 Chronicles 10:4‭-‬5.

Rehoboam had 2 choices: he could listen to the elders who worked with Solomon in order to fix the problem, lighten the burden of the people, and make them loyal willingly...or, he could listen to the power-hungry young men who put self first, increasing the burden of the people. Unfortunately, he chose the second:

"And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." 2 Chronicles 10:13‭-‬14.

Rehoboam did not spread joy to the others & did not relieve them. In putting himself first, and forsaking the wise & godly men before him, he brought much sorrow not only upon others but upon himself:

"And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord , With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Libyans, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians."
2 Chronicles 12:2‭-‬3.

Rehoboam was strengthened previous to this, but only temporarily. When he completely forsook God's Law & His Ways, God sent the Egyptians to attack. This made Rehoboam & all the people humble themselves-finally they learned to put themselves last!

"And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."
2 Chronicles 12:7-8.

Still, they had to be servants. They had to learn that the pattern of J.O.Y. does not start with us! Think about it-when we do things for others, it makes us joyful...when we give praise to God first above all, there's no greater joy, peace or rest than that! There is peace in praise!

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29‭-‬30.

Maybe we get so unhappy because it's so hard to please ourselves...when that weight is released to Jesus, He gives us that true joy. When we think of others first, we get true joy. So therefore, when it comes to ourselves, we will already be in a joyful state of mind!

"And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." 2 Chronicles 12:14.

Sadly, Rehoboam stilled turned from God after learning the pattern of joy. The first step to a miserable life is excluding God. We then won't care about people as much, and probably won't care about our own life either...

SO CHOOSE J.O.Y!