Joy and a Living Prophet
Hello Brothers and Sisters. Happy New Year to you all. I have recently been thinking about joy and the profound insight our prophet has given us about it.
As we start out a new year, I believe it is important to remind ourselves of the need to work at having joy in our lives.
I again listened, with appreciation, to President Nelson’s masterpiece talk on joy given in October 2016, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/10/joy-and-spiritual-survival?lang=eng. I recommend that we all listen to or read this talk once again. This talk is filled with the oft-quoted message that when our attention is properly focused, we can find joy regardless of our circumstances. Here it is in his words:
My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
I love that direction and recognize it as extremely important for us to study and apply while living in a world full of wickedness and trials. That teaching is very enlightening, but only one of two that caught my attention from President Nelson’s talk. I have been a member of the restored church all my life, but President Nelson taught me a completely new interpretation of a very valuable scripture when he quoted and explained a key point from Hebrews 12:2:
Joy is powerful, and focusing on joy brings God’s power into our lives. As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, ‘who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.’ Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy.
This is a key teaching that I feel will benefit us more in proportion to the quality time we spend contemplating it. I encourage us all to bring more power into our lives by focusing on the joy that awaits us as we are faithful. We find this concept of envisioning the future we desire several times in the scriptures (Alma 32:40-41; D&C 46:7) and is well known in the self-development world.
These two teachings can be a tremendous help to us as we begin this new year. Let us find joy regardless of our circumstances by focusing on Jesus Christ, His goodness, His greatness, and the plan of happiness. Additionally, let us endure our difficulties by envisioning the future joy that awaits us.
I am convinced these truths can be an extremely beneficial practice for us all. I am thankful for the guidance and direction we receive from a living prophet who teaches us how to better apply truths from our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ.
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