Lesson 24: God’s Sovereignty Makes Us More Joyful

Acts 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’."

According to our verse, Jesus, in one sentence, reveals the secret to a truly joyful life: if you want more joy in your life, then do not get more things in your life, but give away more of your life. That is not what society says! This is precisely the problem. It sounds foreign today because we live in a society that declares just the opposite of what Jesus says to do for joy. We wonder why everyone is so unhappy all the time! They have it backwards! People of God, whether you realize it or not, our world is now consumed with “me, myself and I,” the unholy trinity. We live in a world of unequalled selfishness. We want our fast food even faster. We want our paychecks paid on demand. We want to be pampered with all the so-called comforts of life, and we want them NOW! The world is pumping out a whole new generation of people with thankless attitudes, deaf to the needs of others, let alone getting around to serving their fellow man. In fact, our world has now created a subculture out of selfishness, and we usually call them snobs. I do not know about you, but I have yet to run into a selfish person who is just bubbling with joy wherever they go. No, they are usually full of emptiness and bitterness. So it is no wonder that a world which lives for nothing but serving themselves is full of people, even Christians, who are empty and bitter about life.


Therefore, out of mercy, God allows a few difficulties, and we find out very quickly that life does not revolve around “me, myself and I” after all. We see that it is an illusion to think that we are always going to get what we want out of life.

This does not mean God is being a tyrant to just keep us from having a good time. Rather, He is teaching us a powerful lesson. He wants to get us to see that a life of selfishness is a one-way ticket to a life of emptiness! Listen clearly to the words of Jesus. True joy comes NOT by having others serving us as the world would say. That is not reality. It is a lie which sets people up for a life full of heartaches and broken dreams. True joy comes in serving others because it is more blessed to give than to receive! Therefore, whether we like it or not, or whether we want to admit it or not, our difficult circumstances are serving as an opportunity to ensure that we learn to give away our lives and thus be filled with the joy of the Lord. Is that not what we all pray for? Of course it is. It is all because God is Sovereign.

* How do you express your joy to Jesus?