Living in Joy
Recently I attended an NBL basketball game. Before the game even began, I was not in a good mood. I’d left home frustrated by a few unresolved issues, the traffic on the way was horrendous, and I was annoyed with myself for forgetting a couple of important matters. But by the end of the game, my mood had completely changed. My team had won a close match, the players were elated, and joy filled the stadium.
What struck me was this: I had done nothing to create that joy, simply been where it was. The matters causing my frustrations hadn’t disappeared, but I wasn’t focused on them anymore. My attention had shifted to the joy of the team and the joy shared by the crowd.
The Bible reveals that joy is available to every follower of God—regardless of circumstances. One of the most well‑known verses about joy comes from Nehemiah 8:10, which ends with the words: “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Notice what it says: our strength comes from God’s joy, not our own. The people Nehemiah was speaking to were not living easy or comfortable lives. There was plenty of grumbling and complaining. And when they heard God’s Word read aloud, they suddenly realised the mess they had made and the trouble they were in. So they began to grieve.
Yet Nehemiah urged them to lift their eyes off themselves and onto God—onto who He is and what He does. In doing so, he invited them to focus on God’s joy, because that changes everything.
And throughout history, countless Christians have discovered that when they focus on God and what brings Him joy, they can live with joy even in the hardest circumstances.
One person who embodied this was an elderly lady from one of our congregations. Her life story was full of hardship. She fled her home country because of persecution and poverty. She arrived here with very little English and was not always treated kindly. Her first home had a dirt floor and wheat bags covering the open windows. To get water or use the toilet, she had to walk outside—sometimes in pouring rain. She lived about five kilometres from town and the church, and twice a week she walked there and back.
What amazed me was that she wasn’t bitter or resentful. Instead, she carried a constant smile and treated everyone with grace and kindness. One day I asked her what her secret was—how she could be so joyful.
She told me that she focused on God and the good He is doing, especially in times of trouble. She said that when she fixed her eyes on God, she was reminded of how deeply He loves her—pointing me to John 3:16. And instead of being weighed down by her sins or overwhelmed by her struggles, she focused on Jesus, knowing that because He died and rose again, she is forgiven and never faces her problems alone.
So what about you?
What will you choose to focus on—the problems in your life and in the world?
Or what God has done, is doing, and will do—drawing strength from the joy He has in loving, forgiving, and helping you and others?
I pray that we all live each day strengthened by the joy of the Lord.
Bishop Richard Schwedes
January 2026
Sydney, NSW
