Our current circumstances are filled with interruptions. Some interruptions have proved profitable. Other occasions have been less desirous. For example, some are unaffected by the cancellation of sports, but most, especially the teams, are sorely affected. Most children have enjoyed the news of school cancellations at the peak of the spring semester, but those graduating have been adversely affected. Many joyous occasions have been put on hold. This significant interruption we are experiencing is a reminder that our activities and schedules are all fragile in a fallen world.
Scripture reveals those things we think bring us joy are merely shadows of a greater coming joy. These things, as fabulous as they are, are only a semblance of what awaits those who hope in God. Scripture declares God brings the greatest hope of everlasting joy. What if the things we thought brought us joy, those shadows of the greater joy, were interrupted by an event that ushers in true and everlasting joy? Would we consider such an event an interruption? Would we recognize it when it came?
Because of our position in a fallen world, a world that has been infiltrated by the true light coming into the world, we know much of pleasure but little of joy. The difference between the two is one of permanence. Pleasure is fleeting. Joy lasts forever. C.S. Lewis said, “I doubt whether anyone who has tasted [joy] would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then, joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.”[1]
While we don’t want to draw an unhealthy distinction between the things of this temporary world and the world to come, there is a difference. Some things will last forever. Things such as the souls of men and other aspects of creation that will undergo a change but remain. Other things in our experience will not last but are merely echoes of eternity like marriage and other “permanent forms” that still have a clause in them that relate a way out. In marriage’s case, the way out is “until death do us part.” Further, the feeling after waking from a night of restful sleep, the satisfaction of a quenched thirst or a hunger satisfied, a noble goal met, are all ripples in our souls from a distant shore we were created for. When we encounter interruptions, either positive or negative, the interruptions take our souls to the edge of our greatest satisfaction – the day the King comes to rescue us.
Psalm 47 anticipates the jubilation of the earth as God establishes his Kingdom. In this Psalm, he is exalted the King is exalted on high, and the invitation is for the whole earth to praise Him. This Psalm brings forward this truth: He is the Lord, forever his truth shall reign.[2]
[1] C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.
[2] Shane and Shane, He is Exalted.