Seeking Joy

In the October 2016 general conference President Nelson gave a powerful talk on “what can help each of us with our personal struggles and with the rigorous challenge of living in these latter days.”  The answer is surprising to me: he suggested that Lehi’s famous statement that “men are, that they might have joy” provides us the answer.  He said, “Joy is powerful, and focusing on joy brings God’s power into our lives,” and taught that “if we focus on the joy that will come to us, or to those we love” we will be able to better endure that which “seems overwhelming, painful, scary, unfair, or simply impossible.”  President Nelson suggested that joy was what helped the Savior endure the difficulties of His suffering: “As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, ‘who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.’ (Hebrews 12:2) Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy!” 

               The reason that this counsel surprised me was because I have heard at times that we should not focus on trying to be happy.  For example, Elder Maxwell taught, “Too much anxious opening of the oven door and the cake falls instead of rising. So it is with us. If we are always selfishly taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we will not be.”  Focusing on our own happiness and trying to make sure that we are happy all the time generally will not result in the outcome we want.  But I believe that President Nelson’s invitation to focus on joy is different than this—he is not suggesting that we should always be focused on our own personal joy or happiness but that we should focus on He who is the source of all true joy.  He taught, “When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation,… Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy.”  When we focus on the Savior and helping others to come unto Him, that is where joy comes from and what helps us focus on the eternal joy that is promised to the righteous. 

In the Book of Mormon, joy is emphasized in particular in the story of the sons of Mosiah and their preaching to the Lamanites.  Despite the terrible sufferings that they endured, they were indeed able to focus on the joy of the gospel.  Ammon described how they felt “depressed” and “suffered every privation,” and yet they still were able to focus on joy as President Nelson invites us to do.  At the end of their mission Ammon said, “my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God….  Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full (Alma 26:11, 16).  He associated his joy with God Himself: “My joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God….  This is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God” (Alma 26:35-36).  Mormon recounted that “the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength.”  Mormon then gave the lesson to all of us about joy and happiness: “Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness” (Alma 27:17-18).  Joy is found in God, not in our circumstances, and as we humbly seek joy in Him and in bringing others to Him we can find the kind of joy that our Heavenly Father has in store for us.