Song from a Cell
day eighteen
You can’t find your keys or your glasses, which you’re wearing. You open the group chat and instantly regret it. You’re already tired and it’s not even 9am. You finally sit down with a cuppa, and someone calls about solar panels.
Then Jesus says, “I’ve told you this so that my joy may be in you.”
Really?
Jesus doesn’t talk about joy as a bonus for the optimistic. He says it’s part of the life He offers. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love… so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”
That’s not surface happiness. It’s the kind of joy that holds steady when the news is heavy and the house feels too quiet. It’s not hype. It’s presence.
Nehemiah tells a grieving, disoriented people, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Which means joy isn’t about pretending things are fine. It’s about finding God’s presence in the middle of things not being fine.
And that makes joy resistance. It refuses to let despair have the final word. It pushes back against the powers that thrive on fear, cynicism, and exhaustion. It keeps the Kingdom flame burning when everything else says it’s pointless.
So joy is not fragile. It is fierce. It is mission fuel.
DAILY READINGS
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9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
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10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
DEEPER
When Jesus speaks of joy in John 15, He doesn’t attach it to circumstances. He grounds it in love. “Remain in my love… so that my joy may be in you.” Joy is not about forcing yourself to feel cheerful. It is the overflow of knowing you are held. It grows when you stay connected to the One who delights in you.
That matters because joy cannot be demanded. It cannot be faked. It is not about ignoring grief or numbing pain. Real joy can sit right alongside sorrow. It can rise up gently, like a laugh you weren’t expecting, or like a small breath of relief in the middle of heaviness. It shows up as you notice God present with you in places you thought He was absent.
Joy also carries defiance. When Paul and Silas sing in prison, they are not escaping reality. They are announcing another one. Their chains rattle, but they sing anyway, declaring that despair is not final. This is joy as resistance. A refusal to let fear or hopelessness write the last line.
Look closely, and you’ll see the reversal… joy is not fragile. It is strong. It resists the scripts that say life is only what you can see. It insists there is more. Joy is not shallow optimism but a signpost to resurrection. It points forward to a future where all things will be made new, and it drags that future hope into the present.
This kind of joy is not just for your comfort. It becomes witness. People notice when you carry peace in a storm, or laughter in lament, or hope when it would be easier to give in to despair. That is joy testifying that another Kingdom is breaking in.
So maybe joy isn’t something to strive for or fake your way into. Maybe it’s something to watch for. Something to welcome. A gift that catches you off guard, even in weakness. And when it rises, however small, it’s not a fluke. It’s the Spirit reminding you that love still holds and the story is not over yet.
RESPOND
Where are the places you feel most worn down or tempted to despair right now? Instead of asking for those feelings to vanish, what would it look like to ask God to meet you with joy there. Not as escape, but as presence?
PRAYER
Jesus, thank you that your joy is not fragile and not dependent on my circumstances. Teach me to remain in your love. Let your presence steady me in weakness and remind me that despair does not have the final word. Fill me with joy that becomes strength, courage, and quiet resistance.
Also, pray now for our Rahab ministry. Pray for the team, that they would continue to have courage as they reveal your love. And for the vulnerable women they meet, that they would experience God’s love and his care for them through this ministry,
ACTIVATE
Pay attention today for small flashes of joy — an unexpected laugh, a kind word, a moment of beauty. Don’t dismiss them. Pause and name them as reminders that the Spirit is near and hope is alive.
“The river does not fear the rocks in its path. Joy, like water, finds a way through.”