We too often forget about the provisions and protections God has provided. We too often neglect to step back from time to time and rejoice in the amazing things God has done in and through us. We too often forget to simply rejoice in who God is and worship him. C.S. Lewis in his book Surprised by Joy suggested that we “Shut (our) mouth (and) open your eyes and ears.”
C. S. Lewis said that as he was beginning to believe in God, he could not understand the demands in the Psalms that we praise God. He didn’t see the point in this; besides, it seemed to him to picture God as craving “for our worship like a vain woman who wants compliments.” He goes on to show why he was wrong.
But the most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. … I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…. The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game….
My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. (Reflections on the Psalms pp. 94-95, cited by Piper, Desiring God, p. 18.)
Looking for joy rarely if ever leads to joy. But we are often surprised by joy when we are not looking for it. We are not experiencing joy because we are too fixated on finding it. We are not experiencing joy because we are too focused on ourselves. We are not experiencing joy because we have too high a view of self and too low a view of God.
The best way to experience joy is to quit looking for it. Instead we need to set our eyes on the providential care of God, the blessing of a finished task by His protection and provision, and the undeserved experience of his presence in our lives. When he fills our vision we find ourselves surprised by joy and God takes pleasure in watching us make that discovery. And that is when we celebrate.
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