Man was originally made to rejoice. He was not made to mourn. Charles Spurgeon was a man who suffered from ill health and quite often depression. Yet he wrote about joy and hope.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11
Christ’s Joy and Ours:
Man was not originally made to mourn; he was made to rejoice. The Garden of Eden was his place of happy abode; and, so long as he continued obedient to God, nothing grew in that garden which could cause him sorrow. For his delight, the flowers breathed out their perfume. For his delight, the landscapes were full of beauty, and the rivers rippled over golden sands. God made human beings, as he made his other creatures, to be happy. They are capable of happiness, they are in their right element when they are happy; and now that Jesus Christ has come to restore the ruins of the Fall, he has come to bring back to us the old joy, – only it shall be even sweeter and deeper than it could have been if we had never lost it. A Christian has never fully realized what Christ came to make him until he has grasped the joy of the Lord. Christ wishes his people to be happy. When they are perfect, as he will make them in due time, they shall also be perfectly happy. As heaven is the place of pure holiness, so is it the place of unalloyed happiness; and in proportion as we get ready for heaven, we shall have some of the joy which belongs to heaven, and it is our Saviour’s will that even now his joy should remain in us, and that our joy should be full. ~ Charles Spurgeon
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:4-7
How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, Thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints
To meet th’ assemblies of Thy saints.
My flesh would rest in Thine abode;
My panting heart cries out to God;
My God! my King! why should I be
So far from all my joys and Thee?
(A hymn by Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 84)
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