Strength

When Nehemiah and the people had finished the work of rebuilding Jerusalem (I always find it interesting--no, I always find it instructive--that they did the work in family groups), he and Ezra gathered the people together and read and explained to them the Scriptures. It was a time of celebration and feasting. And Nehemiah reminded them of a simple but empowering truth, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
How often do we reflect on the truth that the strength I need to do what God has called me to do--whatever that may be--is no more powerful than the depth of my joy in my relationship with God. God's faithful workers are empowered by His joy permeating all that they do--all.
"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" is not a promise of a struggle free, carefree, battleless day, but the promise that whatever the day brings, rejoicing in the assurance that He is with me throughout the day will provide all the strength I need for that day. "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice" is the introduction--the foundation--of Paul's word to us that we need not be anxious in any situation, that we can go expectantly in prayer into the throne room of God, that His peace will guard our hearts in the midst of the spiritual battle, that we can learn to be content in every situation, and that we can do all things through Christ who is our strength.
As our Savior's joy strengthened Him to endure the suffering of the cross and to finish the redemptive work the Father had sent Him to do, so His joy--that same joy, the fruit of the Spirit--is promised to those abiding in Him. The indwelling Spirit will strengthen us to finish the work He has called us to do, empower us to daily bear the cross of discipleship. And the promise to finish the work is will--will--not might. "He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The question is, will you find His joy in the work? The joy the Spirit desires to lavish on the child of God does not remove the sorrows of life, does not mend the broken heart, but empowers us at the worst possible moments in our lives to rest in the joy that empowered the love of Christ to endure the cross that He might become our Savior. Then, as we rejoice in our God and in His sacrificially joyous work on our behalf, that same joy, His joy, give us the victory, enables us to bear our cross as we obediently follow Him in love. Show me a joyless Christian, and I'll show you a Christian resisting God's will and work in His life, resisting submission to the control of the Holy Spirit, and refusing to demonstrate a heart of gratitude for the love of the Son in dying and suffering willingly for someone totally unworthy of such a sacrifice of love. Yes, His joy in being able to redeem you from your sins empowered His love to endure the immeasurable physical and spiritual suffering He experienced on the cross in your place. And your suffering cannot begin to compare to the suffering that He endured for you.
The Christian man or woman who touches the hearts of others with the love of God is empowered by a joy that stands at the foot of the cross and daily testifies, "I will rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, I will rejoice in the Lord."