This Advent at Harvest Bridge we want to share the wisdom of four ministry leaders in South Asia as they talk about hope, peace, joy, and love. Today, we will hear from Pastor Pan*, who is our co-country leader in Myanmar. As you heard last week, ministry in Myanmar takes place in the middle of a violent military coup. In the middle of war and poverty, how has Pastor Pan found joy? Let’s listen as he shares this powerful word to us. You can read the transcript, or to listen to Pan click play on the video below and press CC for captions. You can also listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
It’s my joy and privilege to share something about joy, which is found in the Bible. My favorite Bible verse is Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10b, it says, ‘Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ Many of the times, they were sorrows, bad circumstances, and fearfulness that we have been facing in our day to day life, but even in the midst of difficulties and the hardship times, the Lord always spoke to my heart to be joyful in Him, not depending on the circumstances, because He is the source of our joy. The psalmist says in Psalm number 28 verse seven, ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my soul, I will praise Him.’ The joy we talk about – the fruit of the Spirit – is found in Galatians, chapter five, verse [twenty] two also. And it is the positive and cheerful [outlook] of a person who has been called by God and understands how beneficial it is to follow God’s way of life. It says the fruit of the Spirit is joy.
Sometimes, when things look so hard, we allow the circumstances to dictate our joy. But I learn so many new things from the book of Nehemiah, chapter eight. And my unstable response to life circumstances improved significantly. And I also read the book of First Thessalonians, chapter five, verse 16: ‘Rejoice always’. Those who are stood up as a command and minister to me upon understanding that the joy is required of me as a child of God. And I became intentional about cultivating the joy, the fruit of joy in my life. Every believer in Jesus Christ is subject to the command to be full of joy. And Paul and again commanded to the saints of Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always.
God wants us to serve Him with exceeding joy, not only when we worship Him in His presence, but also in our daily lives. God commanded the people of Israel to rejoice in the Lord for what He did for them according to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 26 verse 11. We have received a far greater benefit from God, His greatest gift to humanity is only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as we read in John, chapter three, verse 16. Therefore we have every little reason to serve him joyfully, because God is the source of our joy. I used to teach and preach my church and my community to be full of joy, as Paul encouraged to the believers in Philippians. [In] one part of this letter, his circumstances were very bad and so hard, and he wrote this epistle from jail. He was in prison. He was tortured very badly, and he was about to die, but he still encouraged the believers from the jail to rejoice always in the Lord. Paul rejoiced in the Lord and it resulted him to have more boldness to proclaim the Word of God. Even though we face many difficulties and hardships, they make me to teach my people to have joy in Jesus Christ.
I also share with them that Jesus made possible for us to reconcile with God according to Romans, chapter five, verse 11. If you have been made right with God, you now have this divine privilege to rejoice in the Lord. The psalmist, says in Psalms, 32, verse 11:‘Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, oh righteous and shout for joy, all you upright in heart’. I am exceedingly glad that we are never told in the Bible to rejoice in our circumstances, which are constantly changing. But the Bible told us that we have to rejoice in God who never changes. That is found in Malachi, chapter three, verse [6]. And I was happy when things went my way and sad when things didn’t go well. Actually, happiness is typically a more fleeting emotion, often depending on a particular moment or event that brings a sense of excitement. But the fruit of joy, which we found in the Bible, is more than that.
So the fruit of joy is beyond our circumstances and beyond our thoughts. It is found only in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t depend on any circumstances, but it is long lasting overall joy. When Jesus Christ was praying to the Father, he acknowledged that while he was on earth, he told the disciples the words so that they would be filled with His joy.The word of God we know and obey is what God uses to fill us with joy. The more we grow in our understanding of God, His plans and His purposes, the more we hold onto our joy, even in the dire situations. God commands believers to always be joyful. It is a choice that we must make every time our circumstances threaten our joy. That’s the scripture [that] has been such a blessing to me. Now anytime I notice a heaviness trying to come upon me, I quickly say to my Heavenly Father that I choose to rejoice in Him instead of my circumstances. I immediately refuse to allow my circumstances because I know God causes the righteous to live by faith and to work with joy in Jesus Christ.
God is so faithful every time. I experience faith in His word, He always fills me with His joy, and my faith is strengthened every day in the midst of trials and hardships. Let us develop the habits of rejoicing always in the Lord. We should follow the example of the prophet Habakkuk, who made up his mind to rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in the God of his salvation despite the impending doom the people of Judah were going to face at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and his army. We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that Jesus is the source of joy. During the pandemic, we know that many people have lost their loved ones to COVID 19. Knowing that when Christ comes, they will be reunited again with their loved ones, and that can be a source of joy amid great mourning. And also when the coup took place in the country, we know that many people have lost their loved ones to fighting and bombardments, but we are sure that when Christ comes, they will be reunited again with their loved ones, it can be a source of joy amidst great mourning.
For my conclusion, I want to read the book of Habakkuk, chapter three, verse, verses 17 and 18. ‘Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, though the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’So today, actually, what I want to make very clear is that happiness is depending on our circumstances. That depends on our emotion, our feeling, but the joy that we found in the Bible never depends on the circumstances. Never depends on our emotion, our feelings, because God is the source of our joy. That’s why Paul encourages us to be joyful in the Lord, even though they are trials, and there are trials, hardships, and difficulties. So thank you so much for this message that God has given to me, and I will conclude my message here, and may the Lord bless every one of you. And thank you so much.”
Toward the end of our call with Pastor Pan, he mentioned that reflecting on joy gave him a message not only to share with Harvest Bridge, but with his church in Myanmar.
You also give me a very important and very particular topic that I really need to share. Actually, this, this, what I prepare, this very short message, it gives me lots of lots of information, even to encourage my people more and more. It gives me more information. And the Word of God spoke, the Lord spoke to my heart, and He gives me more information. And especially now, we are in a very difficult situation and circumstances in the midst of all this kind of thing, the need, that the neediest thing that we should have is the joy in, to rejoice in Christ, to have a joy in Christ. So the topic also really encouraged, you really encouraged my life through this topic.
Join us next week as we finish our Advent series hearing from Priya, who serves the GATE community in India, as she talks about love.