July 2021 Guest Post Sampler

I don’t know what pops into your mind when you think of the word “joy.” But if you’re like me, it’s probably not the words “calm” or “delight,” at least not paired together. 

Yet, recently I heard the phrase “joy is a calm delight,” when author Pam Ferrel led a teaching on joy, and this was one of her main points.

I feel like I’ve got the calm part down. That’s one of the main words people use to describe me. I also write and speak about finding peace in God’s Word, so calm is my jam.

But I don’t usually associate calm with joy. I associate calm with the eye of a storm, a state of stillness I can choose with God’s help when the chaos of life swirls around me.

Now, when it comes to delight, I feel a bit guilty. I’m a glass-half-empty person by nature. I work hard at choosing the positives – and yes, this is how I cultivate joy in my life. 

I associate delight with the innocence of childhood – the carefree, unburdened, live-for-the-moment attitude I haven’t had on a daily basis since I was four years old, before the trauma of divorce permanently rocked my world.

Maybe some of this resonates with you. Perhaps calm comes easy for you, or not. Perhaps delight is your jam, but calm is more of a struggle. Regardless, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want more joy, more calm and more delight in their lives. 

Let’s dig into this more to see how joy can become calm delight for all of us by meditating on these verses:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost,
    I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business
    or fantasized grandiose plans.

I’ve kept my feet on the ground,
    I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.
Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,
    my soul is a baby content.

Psalm 131:1-2 MSG

In the first verse, David is talking about his pursuit of humility. Though he had been called to greatness when anointed as the future king of Israel, he wanted to maintain a humble heart. (As an aside, humility is another key to pursuing joy.)

Instead of promoting himself, David chose to stay grounded in his faith. He cultivated a quiet (read: calm) heart, intentionally choosing a still, settled attitude right next to his Heavenly Father’s side. We know he spent a lot of time praying and singing praise songs to God, and this is how he stayed so content as a man after God’s own heart.

I love the picture David paints of a baby who is content in his mother’s arms. You have likely witnessed the calm that settles on a baby when his own mother holds him. He may not be content in anyone else’s embrace, but he becomes perfectly calm when his mom holds him.

When a baby feels safe in his mother’s arms, he is free to explore his world with delight. He can spin her hair around his fist, mouth the beads on her necklace, or play with a toy, squealing with his adorable baby noises when he experiences a joyful, new sensation. He is experiencing pure joy as calm delight while content in his mother’s arms.

I believe that’s the same picture God wants us to hold in our minds when we think of joy as calm delight. Picture yourself in God’s loving arms, safe and secure in his embrace. Humble yourself like a child, delighting in small, everyday joys as if you’re seeing them for the first time. Remember that babies spend most of their time in their mother’s presence. The more you invite God into small moments of your day, the more joy you will experience as calm delight.