Disappointment is a certainty when you lead others. People will inevitably let you down. The best laid plans will not work as you intended. Critics may abound. The joy and zeal you felt as you commenced your work can evaporate as you experience failure and frustration.
Jesus knew about disappointment. He suffered painful betrayal. His most loyal lieutenants abandoned Him. Yet Jesus never lost His joy. That is because his joy did not originate from people but from His fellowship with His Father. No one could remove God’s presence from Him.
Likewise, Jesus assured His disciples that upon His resurrection, no one could take their joy away. No one. We will of course have those who will try. They will criticize us, betray us, abandon us, question us, and seek to thwart us. They may even be successful. But our joy does not stem from the accomplishment of our plans or from the accolades of others. It ought to come from fellowship with our Lord (John 15:11). That is something not even our most sinister enemy can steal from us.
If no one can take our joy from us, why are there so many joyless Christians? The answer is: they surrender their joy. They decide they cannot (or will not) hold on to their joy if they are treated acertain way. They willingly yield their joy to their circumstances and surrender that ground to their enemies. But it does not have to be that way. Jesus promised that no one and no circumstance is powerful enough to remove the joy that emanates from His presence in our lives. Have you surrendered your joy? If you have, return wholeheartedly to God’s presence and let Him restore it to you.