“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,…” (Galatians 5:22a)
Joy and peace come into our lives when we mind more about God than we do about ourselves, when we realize what the things that matter really are. The Spirit clears up our problems about what we want or ought to be at, simplifies us and throw us back again and again on the deep and peaceful action of God. Then, whether God speeds us up or slows us down, accepts our notions or sets them aside, gives us what we want or takes it away, gives us a useful job of work or puts us on the shelf, that serenity that is a fruit of the Spirit, a sign of God's secret support, does not fail us…
The point for us is that selfless joy has got to go on at times when we ourselves are in the dark, obsessed by the sorrow of life, so that we feel no joy because we cannot gaze at the beauty. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not of our gratified emotions. "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5b)
-- Adapted from “The Soul's Delight” by Evelyn Underhill
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