My wife loves looking forward to things. I believe she finds more joy in the desire of an expected event than even in its fulfilment. After a wonderful night out on a date, she asks when the next one will be. Our third child is just like her in this. He loves to eat and after enjoying his lunch, he asks “what’s for dinner?”. C. S. Lewis calls this “longing” joy, which he defines as an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. Is it true that this God-given capacity to look forward to something is the very essence of joy?
C. S. Lewis wrote, quite extensively, about joy and often used a German word, Sehnsucht, to describe joy’s focus on desire. He said that this Sehnsucht is a nostalgia that faces toward the future. He even went so far as to say that this longing for something is proof that it exists. There is something innate in all of us that longs for something more, something better; a better job, better living conditions, better relationships, health, etc. Dreams and visions are made from this longing for more.
Just thinking about it brings a smile on our face and joy to our heart.
Paul says that all of creation is groaning and longing for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19) The trees of the field long to clap their hands and mountains to dance for joy at the sound of the coming of the Lord. Creation knows that there is something more; that things can and will be better than they are now. This joy of the anticipation of a new heaven and new earth resounds in all of nature. It is as if creation is looking at us, the people of God, and cheering us on. “Rise up! You can do it! It is your time!”
The book of Hebrews mentions a great cloud of heavenly witnesses that are encouraging us to lay aside every hindrance in running the race. There is a crown of glory out in front of us to be won. Do you desire that more than earthly gain? Jesus was able to endure the cross for the “joy set before Him”. (12:1-2) He saw you and I as the prize worth winning. While He was suffering a gruesome death, Jesus could look down through the centuries and see all those who would be drawn to Him, and endure. Joy is in the anticipation, the longing, and the hope. This desire for more gives us the enthusiasm, stamina, and strength to go through the hard times.
Eternity has been placed in our hearts. There are desires in us that this world cannot satisfy. I believe that, innate in us, there is a certainty that we were made for something more. So many travel different roads to try to fulfil this desire. Some look for it in possessions, pleasures, and positions. Others seek it in relationships, but it is really a desire that only God can fulfil. Barney Warren expresses best in his hymn: Joy Unspeakable. The second verse goes like this: “I have found the pleasure I once craved, it is joy and peace within; What a wonderful blessing, I am saved from the awful gulf of sin.” Then the refrain: “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, Full of glory, full of glory; It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, Oh, the half has never yet been told.” There is more, my dear friends. Let your nostalgia face forward and your imagination go wild. “The half has never yet been told.”
Scriptures to meditate on: Romans 8:19; 2 Corinthians 5:2; Hebrews 12:1-2; Ecclesiastes 3:11; 5:20