Tradition tells us that the prison in Philippi was subterranean. Prisoners, their guards and their provisions were lowered through an opening the size of a manhole, which was the only means of entrance and exit. Rain and debris easily dropped into this “house of darkness.” Neither animal waste nor that of the prisoners found its way out easily. Paul clearly was not in a very delightful place when he was writing about joy. The fact that he could convey so much joyful emotion in a letter in such a dim place tells us the joy definitely did not come from his external circumstances.
Paul makes a similar (and confirming) statement in his second letter to the Corinthians: “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (vs 7:4). Elsewhere in the Bible we find the following: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2).
We often hear of the desire to be happy in the family and in whatever we are doing. Joy is a word that doesn’t appear as frequently in our daily conversations. In the Christmas season just past we all looked for a little happiness after a very stressful year. But hopefully we all sang a few songs about the joy in our hearts. Our families would all benefit from a more concentrated application of joy as opposed to happiness. In the New American Standard version of the Bible, the word happy appears 19 times; the word joy appears 260 times. Consider the following thoughts.
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