The Peculiar
Analysis of Joy 

What every educator needs to carry into the classroom but can’t find in the supply closet. 

Many of us perceive joy as a gentle byproduct of the Holy Spirit or a subtle sign of walking closely with God over time. While this is true, joy is not simply an emotion that lingers in our lives like sweetness waiting to be discovered. It does not remain passive or quiet when faced with challenges. In fact, joy actively fights.

Joy is a spiritual weapon, one many of us were never trained to use. It's not just a pleasant feeling or an emotional lift. In the unseen realm, joy disarms the enemy. It disengages his tactics. It breaks through discouragement and blocks despair before it has a chance to grow roots.

Joy is not just a mood or a smile. It's not something that only shows up when life is going well. Joy is a counterattack. It is holy defiance against apathy, burnout, disappointment, despair, discontentment, distraction, distress, and defeat.

Yes, Jesus is our Joy-Giver. But God doesn’t hand joy to us like a neatly wrapped gift. He opens access to it in the Spirit and permits us to take hold of it, to draw from it, to feed on it, and yes, to fight with it. Sometimes, joy has to be pulled with tired hands and weary hearts. But as Isaiah said,

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)

You may be drawing with a cracked bucket, but even then, what you pull out is still living water. That joy becomes part of your survival.

Joy is Survival

Let’s be honest. By the third period, school can already feel like a battlefield. You pour, plant, explain, correct, smile, repeat, and still see little return. Growth feels invisible. The emotional payout is thin until you realize that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.  This kind of faith pleases God.

There is a thief who doesn’t always target your paycheck. This thief goes after your impact. He sows quiet seeds—weariness, frustration, resentment, apathy. Not to destroy you all at once, but to choke your joy. Because when your joy dries up, everything else gets heavy. Your patience shrinks. Your vision is dimmed. Your ability to hope begins to fade away.

But here’s the secret: when you activate God’s joy, you interrupt the enemy's assignment. You block his interference. You kill off the weeds he tried to plant in your spirit. Joy sends a message to hell: You don’t get to control the climate of my heart.

Joy as Strength and Strategy

We often say, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). But what does that really mean in the context of spiritual warfare? Think of Roman soldiers. They didn’t gain strength by waiting around for a fight. They trained, carried weights, and practiced holding heavy objects on ordinary days to prepare for extraordinary ones. What if joy is the spiritual “training weight”? Praise is what you put on when it’s time to enter battle, but joy is what you build in the waiting. It’s something you cultivate when no one is watching. It is a strength developed in secret. Joy in difficult seasons isn’t about “faking it until you make it.” It’s about fitness.

James didn’t say, “Enjoy the trial.” He said, “Count it all joy” (James 1:2).

Each time you choose joy under pressure, you are growing; you are developing roots and becoming resilient. Just like lifting weights tears muscle to rebuild it stronger, choosing joy in trials trains your spirit to resist collapsing under pressure. The more often you choose joy in disappointment, the more stable your inner spirit becomes. You do not grow strong by avoiding resistance; you grow strong by rejoicing through it.

Joy Bears More Than Joy

The seed of joy doesn’t just produce more joy; it multiplies in other forms. Joy transforms into strength, peace, clarity, creativity, generosity, and endurance. In the Spirit, joy isn’t limited to one yield; it cross-pollinates with every other fruit of the Spirit. It enriches your internal environment, revitalizes your thinking, and becomes contagious to students and coworkers around you. The enemy desires your joy because he knows it doesn’t just make you feel good; it builds you up, shields you, heals others, and multiplies into things he cannot control. 

So pick it up. Carry it. Use it.

Even if it starts small, let joy be your shield. Draw upon it like a weapon. Walk into your school not just as a soldier surviving, but as a soldier winning.