How to Live a Life with Joyful Hope?

This was a sermon I preached on March 27, 2022

We all want a joyful life. We want to live and laugh and enjoy this life. But what we choose to pursue to find that joy makes all the difference when it comes to being joyful.

People have pursued joy in every imaginable way. Some have found it, while others have not.

Let me tell you a few areas that people have sought for joy where joy cannot be found:

Joy is not found in unbelief – Voltaire lived in the 1700’s. His life’s work to convince others not believe in God. Near the end of his life, he wrote: "I wish I had never been born."

Joy is not found in pleasure -- Lord Byron in the 1800’s lived a life of pleasure that would have made Hollywood celebrities blush. Yet he wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."

Joy is not found in money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of money. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."

Joy is not found in Position and Fame – Benjamin Disraeli enjoyed more than his share of both. He had been the British Prime Minister not once but twice. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."

With the war going on in Ukraine, Putin is going to learn that joy is not found in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered all of the known world in his day. Having done so, he sat down and cried because, "There are no more worlds to conquer."

These people and so many others have looked for joy and happiness and failed to find it because they were looking in the wrong places.

Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone.

Philippians 4:4 says,

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Now, why can we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because He is faithful and will do all He has promised.

In John 14:1-3 Jesus said,

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

That is a promise.

Jesus is coming back for us.

One day, we will forever be with Him. That is our hope! That should give us joy! And that is what Paul is talking about in Romans 12:12 when he said, “be joyful in hope.”

This morning what I want to talk to you about is how to live your life with that joyful hope, each and every day. There are three points I want to make.

First, let go of the past.

Second, live in the present.

Third, leave the future in God’s hands.

Let’s look at the first point, which is

1. Let Go of the Past

Have you noticed that some people have a hard time letting go of the past? For some, their memory it was a better and simpler time.

Maybe they were the popular ones in high school and life didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to.

A lot of times the truth is the past wasn’t as great as they remember. That’s because time has a way of softening our memory.

Dr. Warren Wiersbe once said,

"Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past."

Another way we can live in the past is if we play the “What if” game. What if I had taken that job? What if I never broke up with that girl? What if I hadn’t sold my stock in Netflix when it first came out?

That last one I was actually told by someone I know. He even knew how much richer he would have been if he kept the stock.

The thing is you can ask yourself ‘what if’ all the time, but what if doesn’t change what is! Don’t get obsessed with “what ifs”.

The third and worst thing you can do is to think about your past failures. It will not only lead you into depression. It will destroy your life.

I’m went through that myself and it almost killed me.

Ten years ago, while I was a pastor, my first wife told me she was having an affair. I went through a wide range of emotions. I tried everything I could to save the marriage, but after several month she finally left.

I fell into a deep depression. I left the ministry because I couldn’t even help myself. I felt like a failure. I felt unloved. I felt worthless. And I felt like I had been abandoned by God, though He didn’t.

I was living each day thinking about my failures and it affected my choices and behavior. I got mixed up with the wrong people and did things that were not really in my character.

My depression led to three heart attacks and a blood clot from my ankle to my waist. I could have died living in the past.

Thankfully I do believe that the heart attacks and the blood clot were from God because it woke me up to what I was doing.

It was while I was in the hospital with the blood clot that I realized that I should look at my old life as being dead and now I am living my second life where everything is new.

Just as one is born again spiritually when you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. I felt like I was born again physically, with a whole new life to discover.

I recently came across something written by Martin Luther which talks about not living in the past and not focusing on the failures of the past.

He was speaking about the time in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas had a big argument about Mark. Big enough that they parted ways.

He said,

"Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much.

"Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.

"Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.

"No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again."

The author of the book of Hebrews basically says the same thing as Luther.

In Hebrews 12:1-2 it says,

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

To put aside the weight and the sin that traps us means to let go of the past so we can live the life that God wants us to live.

The only way to live the life we are intended to live is by focusing on Jesus, our Savior and our hope.

We need to be just like Peter when Jesus invited him to step out of the boat and walk on the water with Jesus. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he could walk on water. The moment he looked at the waves, he sank.

As long as we keep our focus on Jesus we can live in joyful hope, but the moment we focus on our past failure we too will sink.

So, keep your eyes upon Jesus.

Now that I’m older, I miss the old hymns that we would sing when I was a child. As I wrote this part of the sermon I couldn’t help but to think of the hymn “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”. Do you know that one?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

One of my favorite hymns.

Getting back to the sermon, Not only should we let go of the past, but also the second point I want to make today is to -

2. Live in the Present

I started listening to Washington Nationals baseball on the radio in 2019. It was the year they finally won the World Series for the first time in their franchise history.

How they got there is pretty interesting. They did not start their season very well. At one point their record was 19 wins and 31 loses. People on sports talk radio were calling for the manager to be fired.

The manager, Davy Martinez, never lost hope in his team. What he told his team was don’t dwell on the past. Don’t think about how far behind we are. Instead, let’s go out today and go 1-0. Just concentrate on winning today.

Their motto became “Stay in the fight” and they strung a lot of those 1-0 days together. They got into the playoffs and even then faced elimination several times. They would fall behind in games only to come back in the late innings because they had the confidence they could win. They stayed in the fight until they finished the fight and became World Champions.

They did that because they didn’t think about past failures, nor did they worry about how far they had to catch up in the future, but by concentrating on the day they were living.

I believe that is also what God teaches us in the Bible.

When it comes to our present situation, one of the biggest things we need to learn is contentment.

Sometimes we look at our life and say if I only had this or that then I would be happy, then I would have a joyful life.

The truth is that happiness and joy do not depend on what we have -- but to be content, in the present, even when we don’t have what we want.

One of the most often quoted verses in the Bible is Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. It’s often used by people to inspire themselves to do great things, to do great accomplishments in their own eyes.

Many think the phrase ‘all things’ means anything under the sun, but is that the way the verse is meant to be used?

What often happens with the Bible is a verse is pulled out without consideration of the context of the passage around it and is quoted to mean something that it was never intended. This is one such verse.

The three verses previous to this one gives us the context.

Paul said,

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:

12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

What is going on in these verses is that the Philippine church had the opportunity to send the Apostle Paul some material and probably a monetary gift to support him and his ministry.

He was showing his appreciation, noting that there were times that he had to do without things but that didn’t matter to him as he had learned how to deal with and be content in whatever state he found himself.

Whether he lacked the material things of this world or he had plenty he had learned the art of contentment.

It was with that contentment that he could do all things in Christ.

He could live with or without the things most people think they need and in that he found joy and happiness. He knew God would still take care of Him and in Christ he had a joyful hope.

The writer of the book of Hebrews said basically the same thing. In Hebrews 13:5-6 it says,

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

The key again is looking to the Lord, knowing that the Lord is on your side. As long as you have your eyes upon Jesus and not on your problems then you have nothing to fear.

People will say to you, how can you be so calm in your situation? If it were me, I would be a nervous wreck, but it doesn’t bother you at all.

Your attitude during stressful times can in itself be an open door to witness to others of the power of Christ in your life.

To live with a joyful hope in the present not only takes contentment. It also may take a little patience, especially when we have to deal with troubles that come to our life.

Troubles and trials are part of life, no matter where you are in life. No one can escape problems. Some get mad or worried of fall apart when faced with problems when they come.

But James 1:2 tells us what we should do. It says,

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

I don’t know about you but to rejoice when something bad happens is not my first thought when it happens.

Yay, I lost my job! How happy I am that I broke my leg! No, that is not how we think. Nor do I think James was advocating an emotional outburst like that when something happens.

Again, context is important here. James is not saying we are to like the bad things that are happening to us, but that we are to understand that God uses the bad things to make us better. If bad things are happening to us, it is only happening because God has a purpose for it.

Let us reread verse 2, but also include verses 3 and 4.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

What James is saying is that even in the midst of something bad happening in our life we can have joy because we know that God doesn’t do anything without a plan or a purpose. Even the bad things that come into our lives are there to make us better and stronger in the end.

So we have seen that to have a life full of joyful hope we need to let go of the past and live in the present. For my final point I would like us to learn how to –

3. Leave the Future to the Lord

We can stay right in the book of James to see how we are to leave the future to the Lord.

James 4:13-15 says this,

13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

Most of us make plans and goals and it’s not wrong to make plans and goals. If I didn’t set goals I would have never lost my weight.

But what happens when we set goals and things don’t go the way we planned. Sometimes we get upset.

We had everything planned out just the way it was to go and all of a sudden something happens that is out of our control and our world falls apart.

That is what happened to me 10 years ago. The spring before my first wife told me she leaving me, I was very satisfied with my life.

The church was growing. I had become comfortable preaching. I got involved in the local community and for the first time since the church started in 5 years the church was able to support me so that I didn’t have to work part time to make ends meet financially.

I remember just before Easter thinking to myself that I could see myself as the pastor there for many years to come. Little did I know that I wouldn’t be the pastor there by Thanksgiving.

That is what James is talking about in this passage. He says in verse 14, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. So when you make your plans you need to realize there is someone else who may have other plans for you and that is the Lord.

James says, instead of saying “I’m going to do this and this and this”, say, “if the Lord wills I will do this and this and this.”

Always keep in mind that the Lord knows better what He wants us to do, so if your future changes before your eyes, know it is because the Lord allowed it and He has His own plans for it.

Never in a million years, when I was in that little church in Middletown, would I have imagined I would be here in a Filipino based church preaching, that is God’s doing, not mine.

Not only should we realize that our plans may not be God’s plans, we need to stop worrying about the future. Many people spend so much time worrying about the future that they do not live in the present.

I have known too many people who have saved every penny so they will have a comfortable retirement. They work so hard for their retirement years and then six months before their retirement they have a heart attack or get cancer and pass away before they even get to enjoy their golden years.

Jesus, during His sermon on the mount told us not to worry about the future.

In Matthew 6:31-34 it says,

31"Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Worrying about tomorrow will not change tomorrow, but it will rob you of the joy you can have today.

The whole point of this is trust God. One, He loves you. Two, He is a Sovereign God, that means He is in control. He has promised to care for you and He has plans for you in your future. Trust Him that He will fulfill His promises.

What is important is what are you doing today? Instead of living in the past or worrying about the future, live for today. Seek to do His will today. Open your eyes to what He wants you to do today.

Where you are today is exactly where God wants you to be. Not only can you live a life of joyful hope in the confidence that God is watching over you. But you can share that joyful hope to others.

I came across this story in my research for the sermon. It’s about an elderly couple named Don and Moya Ritchie. They lived in a home above a high cliff with an ocean view of Sydney, Australia. That cliff known as the Gap is where a lot of people go to attempt suicide by jumping off the cliff.

While most people would move away, the Ritchies have stayed for almost 50 years, saving an estimated 160 people from taking the leap.

Every morning Mr. Ritchie wakes up and looks out the window to see if anyone is “standing alone too close to the edge.” If he senses someone may be thinking of suicide, he approaches them and asks if they’d like to talk over a cup of tea. “I’m offering them an alternative,” he says.

The retired life insurance salesman says he’s not “burdened” by the reality of what happens in close proximity to his house. Instead, he and his wife of 58 years have learned to look at it as a calling. He says it’s wonderful to have saved so many, to have “sold them” on life.

“I think,” says Moya, “isn’t it wonderful that we live here and we can help people?”

In recognition of their efforts, the Ritchies were named 2010’s Citizens of the Year. In 2006, the government recognized Don’s efforts with a Medal of the Order of Australia, among the nation’s highest civilian honors.

At 84, Ritchie has spent the last year battling cancer. But he remains optimistic that his efforts to save lives will continue even after his passing: “I imagine somebody else will come along and do what I’ve been doing.”

Like the Ritchies, most of us don’t have to go searching for people in need; they’re right outside our door. They may not be walking near the edge of a literal cliff, but they are walking close to the edge of eternity without God in their life.

Wherever you are in your life, even if it isn’t where you want to be, say with Moya, “Isn’t it wonderful to live here so I can help people.”

Conclusion

If you want to live a life with joyful hope, please let go of the past. Yes you have failed. Yes you have sinned. We all have. If you have asked the Lord to forgive you, then He has. Now you need to forgive yourself and move on.

Also, if you want to live a life with joyful hope, please leave the future to the Lord. Make your plans, but realize God may have better plans which will change yours. And don’t worry about the future, God is a Sovereign God and everything is in his control.

What we need to be doing is living for today. Be aware of your surroundings. See where you can serve the Lord today. Maybe you need to say a kind word to someone at work, or just give a stranger a smile as you pass by. Maybe you need to pray for a friend who has cancer or give your sister a call. Make a difference in someone’s life today by sharing the joy of the Lord to someone else.

In the third century, which is between the years 200 and 300, a man who knew he was dying, wrote these words to a friend.

"It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.

They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life.

They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.

They are masters of their souls.

They have overcome the world.

These people are the Christians--and I am one of them."

All I can add to what he said is, may people say the same of us.

Amen.