True joy is found in the Lord Jesus. It is God’s miracle medicine for E.I.I. Cyprian, one of the church’s early leaders, wrote to a friend about this joy:
This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden, under the
shadow of my vines. But if I could ascend some high mountain
and look out over the wide lands, you know very well what I
would see – brigands on the highways; pirates on the seas; armies
fighting; cities burning; in the amphitheaters men murdered to
please applauding crowds; selfishness and cruelty; misery and
despair under all roofs. It is a bad world.
But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people
who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a
thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life.
They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have
overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians –
and I am one of them.
-Taken from Adrian Rogers
“Better Than Gold”