Running on the Wrong Fuel: Life's Joy Robbers
July 14, 2012
TEXT: John 15:11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Illus. – Mark Twain was a professional humorist whose lectures and writings made people around the world laugh and, for a short time, forget their troubles. Yet Mark Twain himself was, in private, a man whose life was broken by sorrow. When his daughter Jean died suddenly of an epileptic seizure, Twain, too ill to go to the funeral, said to a friend, “I have never greatly envied anyone but the dead. I always envy the dead.”
Contrast that with Jesus Christ, who the Bible says was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Yet He possessed a deep, irrepressible joy. As He faced the cruel death of Calvary in just a few short hours, Jesus said to His followers here in John 15:11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Jesus, as God, knew full well what lay ahead for Him: Ahead lay betrayal; desertion and denial by his own disciples; a mock trial; agony and suffering; God’s wrath poured upon Jesus when He would bear our sins on the cross. And yet here in John 15, when He spoke to His disciples, He expressed hope that they might experience the same joy HE experienced, and that their joy might be full. He says, “that MY joy might remain in you…”
What we see in the life of Jesus was an ABIDING joy. That is, it was not a joy that came and went. It was a joy that never left Him. In the cheerful, happy times of His life—Jesus had joy. – For instance: When the disciples made progress in their spiritual growth, when Mary honored Him by washing His feet with costly perfume and her hair, when the throngs praised Him as He entered the streets of Jerusalem—Jesus had joy. These are all instances where it would be natural to have joy.
But unlike us, Jesus never lost His joy in the bad times: When the disciples bickered like immature children—Jesus had joy. When they lacked faith—He never lost His joy. When the Pharisees hounded him day after day—He STILL had an abiding joy. Even on the cross He did not lose His joy, for Hebrews 12:2 says: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross…” This same joy that Jesus had, He says in verse 11 that He wanted us to experience. Look at the verse again: John 15:11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might REMAIN in you, and that your joy might be FULL.”
Sadly, few Christians actually experience this abiding joy on a regular, consistent basis. They live under a cloud of disappointment and negativism when they could be walking in the sunshine of joy. They’re up and down—on the mountaintop today; in the valley of despair tomorrow. They find such commands as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – “Rejoice evermore” impossible to imagine as a reality in their own lives.
Paul wrote Philippians just before his beheading while in a Roman dungeon. In that letter, written under discouraging times and difficult circumstances, he uses the words joy and rejoicing 18 times in its four short chapters. To many Christians, such joy in the midst of such trial is incomprehensible.
What robs us of our joy? Why is our joy so dependent upon circumstances? Why are we so up and down like a yo-yo?
The answer is very simple: We lose our joy when we fill up with the wrong fuel (unless sin is the issue).
Illus. – Let me illustrate what I mean: I used to own a car that ran on LEADED GAS. As long as it was filled with a good grade of leaded gas, it ran just fine. However, if I were to put the wrong kind of fuel in, I was headed for trouble.
If I were to fill it with UNLEADED GAS, it would have run for a while, but the car was made to run on leaded fuel. After a while, the motor would began making a knocking noise that would get worse and worse until finally I would eventually have a breakdown. It might take awhile, but eventually it would ruin the engine.
Now, I could speed the process up by filling it with DIESEL FUEL. I’m told that a non-diesel car will run on diesel fuel—for a tank or two. But very quickly, the car would break down.
Now I could REALLY speed things up by pouring SUGAR WATER in the gas tank! I probably wouldn’t get five miles down the road! The pistons would lock, the head gaskets would blow, and I would be calling a tow truck and heading to the used car lot.
Now the Christian life is like that— God has designed you so that you run on only one type of fuel. If you try to fuel your life with the wrong fuel, you’re headed for a meltdown. Depending on the type of fuel you try to fill up with, you might break down quickly or you might break down slowly—but sooner or later you are going to have problems
What are the things Christians try to fill their tanks up with? Let’s think about some “joy robbers” this morning, and what the problem with them is:
I. THE FIRST THING WE TRY TO FILL UP WITH IS PEOPLE.
If it’s relationships and people that keeps your motor running, I’m sorry to say that you’re in for spiritual trouble. You see, you can get quite a bit of mileage out of people, but God never intended for you to ultimately draw your fulfillment in life from people.
Nehemiah said, “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Most of us think that people are supposed to be the source of joy in our lives, but Nehemiah reminds us that our joy must come from the Lord.
This wrong focus shows up frequently in dating and marriage.
• Take, for example, a woman who dreams for years about finding “Mr. Right.” She believes this man will fulfill her deepest longing for intimacy. She pictures him sitting next to her on an overstuffed love seat in front of a warm fire, his arm around her, talking for hours…with no game, computer or TV on She envisions him as always there for her in her times of need—and as always caring and loving and understanding. She imagines her husband-to-be as a waterfall cascading into her life—a never-ending source of fulfillment that will make her life overflow with meaning and happiness.
This woman doesn’t know it, but she’s setting herself up for real heartache. She begins with an unrealistic view of her marriage and a picture of her husband he could never hope to become in a million years. It’s not long into the marriage that she discovers that her husband, in many ways, cannot or WILL not cooperate with her expectations. The relationship that she thought would bring her joy actually brings her frustration, hurt feelings, contention and disappointment. Why?—Wrong fuel.
When her husband fails to meet her expectations, she might think of an alternative—She says: “If my husband isn’t going to fill my tank and keep me running smoothly, I’ll have a family. The pitter patter of children running around the house is what I need to keep my motor running good.” Too late she discovers that children, rather than being good, high-octane fuel to run on, have an amazing capacity to add sugar water into the tank! Oh, they do bring lots of joy, but boy-oh-boy, can they also drain you of your joy! What’s the problem?—Wrong fuel.
• Men also try to fill up on the wrong fuel— A man pictures marrying the perfect wife he hopes to marry: Each day she’ll comment on how gifted he is as a lover and husband. She’ll prepare delicious meals every night and always respond warmly to his physical advances—even when she has worked hard all day chasing down several rambunctious kids or working a job. She’ll just LOVE sports and will want to watch sporting events all day Saturday. Unfortunately, soon he discovers that not only is she not the right fuel to keep his joy motor running; it seems like she’s sneaking cups of sugar water in every now and then too, and it’s GETTING MORE AND MORE FREQUENT!
Husbands and wives are not the only ones who try to fill their tank and find their fulfillment and joy in people. – In the church, Christians often feel lose their joy when church leaders or spiritual mentors they admire to succumb to temptation and turn out to be human and prone to failure like everyone else.
What’s the problem—Wrong fuel.
II. THE SECOND THING PEOPLE TRY TO FILL UP ON ARE PLACES.
People hope that a LOCATION or a SPECIAL PLACE can fill up their joy tanks and make them feel joyful and fulfilled.
• For instance, people think that if they could buy the HOUSE of their dreams, then they would be fulfilled. Hours are spent dreaming of, planning for, searching for the perfect home. They get all wrapped up in the number of bathrooms, the view, the appropriate furnishings and the coordinated interior decorations. There is nothing wrong with owning or enjoying a house, but looking to a house to bring us lasting joy is like taking a snapshot of a beautiful sunset—when you get the picture developed, it never quite recaptures the beauty you beheld when you took the picture.
What happens? Once you buy the house, THE PAYMENTS START! Then there are the long work hours or maybe an extra part-time job to make the house payments. Then there are the complaints from the family because you’re always at work making money to make the house payments. Then there is the garage door that breaks down;…and the roof that needs replacing…and the faucet that leaks…and the plumbing that needs repairing…and the heating that breaks down in the middle of winter…and the aphids on the roses…and the fertilizer needs to be put on the lawn…and on and on you go ad infinitum.
Do you see what I mean? Pretty soon, your joy is gone because if you’re looking for A PLACE to fulfill you, you’re trying to run on the wrong fuel. That’s not to say that buying a home is not a wise investment; but if that’s your source for joy and satisfaction in life, you’re in for trouble.
• It may not be a new house per se that you want to fill up your tank, but just A MOVE TO A NEW LOCATION—the “grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” syndrome.
Illus. – When I was growing up we would visit some friends in Michigan where they get tons of snow and interminable months cold weather. They were a family that was chronically dissatisfied. They just seemed to never be happy. They complained about the cold and the snow and the ice, and on and on and on they went.
So one year they had decided to move to Florida where the sun always shines and they were SO excited. It was like they were moving to the Promised Land. They just knew that all their problems would disappear now. They would go to the beach every weekend and visit Disney World and Sea Word at least once every summer and all their problems they had in Michigan would disappear.
Well, they did move to Florida, but they found out that they had problems in Florida too. In Florida there were bills to meet and taxes to pay and traffic to circumnavigate just like in Michigan. And no, there was no cold, snow and ice, but the summers were uncomfortable and swelteringly hot. They became so busy that one day they realized that when they lived in up Michigan, they actually visited the Florida beaches and Disney World and Sea World more often than they did when they lived in Michigan! And when we visited them a few years later, they were still unhappy and unfulfilled and were talking about moving to California (or Colorado…I can’t remember)!
Do you know what the problem was?—Wrong fuel.
III. THE THIRD THING PEOPLE TRY TO FILL UP ON ARE POSSESSIONS.
If people and places can’t satisfy us, perhaps we would be happy if we had more THINGS. But trying to find sustained joy in THINGS is like trying to make a meal out of cotton candy—it’s good while it lasts, but when you’re all done, you’re still empty and hungry. Oh, you can get some distance on possessions, but they too are the wrong fuel. As Jesus said in Luke 12:15 – “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Possessions bring problems that rob you of your joy.
• Fill a life with furniture, and you have more housework to keep it clean and to maintain it and keep it shiny and nice.
• Fill your life with expensive cars, and you have maintenance, breakdowns to fix, and insurance to protect your investment.
• Are you happy because you just bought the latest, greatest, most up-to-date wiz-bang computer? – It won’t last long because next month you’ll go to the PX and find one that’s faster, cheaper, and more powerful than the one you just bought!
Wrong fuel.
IV. THE FOURTH THING PEOPLE TRY TO FILL THEIR TANKS WITH IS POSITION.
Work, acceptance, promotions, benefits, status, prestige, reputation. And yet over and over again you read of those who get to the very apex of their field or career and once they have gotten to the top, they realize how empty they are. And they look at what it took to get them there—neglected families, hurting kids, wounded spouses—and THEY have even less joy, and are often alienated to such a degree that they have become constant sources of sugar water! Again, you know what the problem is—wrong fuel.
CONCLUSION
You see, the reason each of these joy robbers—people, places, possessions, position— so often cause us to lose our joy is that they are the wrong fuel. God created you, and He gave you an owner’s manual—the Bible—that tells you everything you need to know to operate properly and have sustained, abiding joy.
• Do you want PEACE?—Read your owner’s manual.
• Do you want FULFILMENT?—Read your owner’s manual.
• Do you want MEANING and PURPOSE?—Read your owner’s manual.
• How about JOY?…FULNESS OF JOY…SUSTAINED, ABIDING JOY that remains even in the midst of trials and difficulty?—READ YOUR OWNER’S MANUAL.
And in your owners manual, God says you’re designed to run on one, and only one, fuel— HIM. You see, if you try to find joy and happiness and fulfilment on any of the things we just mentioned—people, places, possessions, or position—your joy will always be temporary because your source is temporary and subject to change instantly. But God is eternal, and He never changes, and He’ll never fail you or let you down. Jesus said in John 4:14 – “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
If your joy is based on any of those four temporal things we looked at, your joy becomes dependent upon the disposition or condition of that person or thing.
• As long as your SPOUSE is acting in accordance with your desires and expectations— you have joy. But when he or she doesn’t—there goes your joy!
• As long as your HOUSE stays in repair and doesn’t require maintenance—you’re happy. But when the hot water heater blows and you have to fork out several hundred dollars for a new one—there goes your joy.
• When you get the best, newest, shiniest POSSESSION with the most bells and whistles—you’re fulfilled. But when the next model comes out with even more bells and whistles and then YOUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR has one of the newer models—Oh, boy, bye, bye, joy!
• And as long as you are moving up the career ladder the way you want—you’re happy. – But if your family makes demands that keep you from reaching your career goals, or someone else is chosen for that plum position instead of you—you lose your joy.
But if GOD is your focus, if GOD is the source of your joy, if HE is your satisfaction— then you’ll run the way God designed you because God will never let you down, He never changes and He always looks out for what is your best.
Why don’t we go to our owner’s manual and look at a few Scriptures at this point: (EXPAND)
• Ephesians 3:19-20 – “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
• Psalm 62:1-2 – “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.”
• Psalm 62:5-7 – “My soul, wait thou only upon GOD; for my expectation is from HIM. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
• Psalm 16:11 – “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
CLOSING
• Appeal to the lost – Let God be your source of joy by turning to Him (Paschel’s “God sized hole in the heart illustration).
• Appeal to the saved: Give your expectations to the Lord. Turn from anything that has stolen your heart away from the Lord and make HIM your source for joy.
