13 & 14 Dec 2025 (Pastoral Page) SEEKING TRUE GLADNESS IN A WORLD OF ELUSIVE JOY

by Asst Ps Lai Keet Keong

We chase joy as if it were a butterfly – glimpsed from a distance, beautiful and tantalizing, yet perpetually just beyond our grasp. We pursue it in achievements, relationships, comforts and success, only to find that once captured, the feeling evaporates like morning mist.

The happiness of this world is fleeting. It arrives under certain conditions and departs with the slightest change in circumstance. Where can we find a joy that endures, a gladness that anchors the soul through every storm? The answer is found not in a change of situation, but in a change of source. A reorientation of the heart toward the Living Spring that never runs dry.

The Apostle Paul wrote from a Roman prison – a place of confinement, uncertainty, and discomfort. Yet listen to his astonishing words: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). This command is jarring in its context. It contains no caveats. It does not say, “Rejoice when your career advances,” or “Rejoice when your health is perfect,” or “Rejoice when your family is harmonious.” It simply says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Paul’s secret was not a denial of reality, but a deeper discovery within it. His joy was not anchored in the prison walls, but in the presence of the Prisoner’s God. He understood that true joy is not the result of favourable winds, but the fruit of a rooted faith.

This is the core of the mystery: Joy is elusive when we seek it as a primary goal, but it becomes abundant when it emerges as a by-product of surrender. Jesus taught this paradoxical truth when He said, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25). Sometimes we think we must grasp, achieve, and accumulate to find joy. Instead, Jesus said we must release, surrender, and give away. The relentless pursuit of personal happiness is a journey that ends in a desert. The surrendered journey of faith in Jesus, however, leads to streams of living water, and joy is the refreshment that flows from those streams.

When we make joy itself the target, we turn inward. Our focus becomes our own emotional state, scanning the horizon of our hearts for signs of gladness. This introspection is a prison. It magnifies every disappointment and makes us hostage to our feelings. But when we shift our focus to Jesus and His character, His promises, His sacrifice, and His abiding presence, then something miraculous happens! Joy ceases to be a quest and becomes a gift. It arrives like wildflowers growing in a field we have simply chosen to walk through.

Surrender, then, is the gateway. We surrender our right to dictate the terms of our happiness. We surrender the belief that we know what we need better than our Creator does. When we lay down our white-knuckled grip on our plans, our reputation, and our comfort. The act of release empties our hands of burdens, and poised our hearts to receive. We receive peace that defies understanding (Philippians 4:7), a peace that guards our hearts, and from that guarded, secure place, joy springs up. It is the joy of the sheep who knows the Shepherd’s voice. It is the joy of the branch connected to the Vine. It is the joy of the child who rests in the Father’s perfect care.

My dear brothers and sisters, if your joy feels elusive today, do not chase it harder. Stop. Be still. Turn your gaze away from the butterfly you have been pursuing and fix your eyes on God’s love expressed through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Surrender anew. Offer Him your disappointments, your fragile hopes, and your thirst. Drink deeply from the truth of His Word. Rejoice in Him: in His mercy, His presence and His vindication. Choose to praise when you do not feel like praising. In that act of obedient faith, rooted not in emotion but in His steadfast character, you will find the elusive becoming present. You will discover that joy was never a destination to be reached, but a companion found along the path of faithful surrender, walking hand-in-hand with the One who is Himself our utmost and irreplaceable joy.