It was a bright, sunny morning as Brother Littlejoy walked down the street
toward the railway-station. But somehow the brightness of the morning was
not reflected in Brother Littlejoy’s face. He seemed gloomy; his gaze
rested upon the ground. As he entered the waiting-room, he saw a man with
a smiling countenance, and he said to himself, “Why, there is Brother
Joyful.”
Brother Joyful, seeing Brother Littlejoy, hastened to him and shook hands
with him warmly and said: “Good morning, Brother Littlejoy. What a fine
morning this is! It seems that all nature is rejoicing in the spring
sunshine. But, Brother Littlejoy, why do you look so gloomy this morning
when everything else seems so bright?”
“Oh,” said Brother Littlejoy, “I have so many troubles and worries and
perplexities, so many trials and difficulties, that it seems I have little
joy in my life. I never can understand how you are always so joyful. You
always have a smile for everybody and never seem to have any of the
worries and troubles that other people have. You seem to be, as Paul said,
‘always rejoicing.’ How I wish I were as you are! It certainly must be a
happy life.”
“Oh,” replied Brother Joyful, “I think I have my full share of the
troubles of life. You know every one must expect them. We all have plenty
of them, but that is not the cause of your trouble. It is not the number
of trials and perplexities people have that keep them from being joyful;
for some of the most joyful people whom I know have many cares, sorrows,
and troubles. There is just one thing wrong in your case, Brother
Littlejoy—you have not learned how to work God’s joy-machine.”
“God’s joy-machine!” exclaimed Brother Littlejoy, “why, I did not even
know that he had one. What do you mean by his ‘joy-machine’?”
Brother Joyful laughed, and his eyes twinkled as he said, “Come over here
and let me give you an object-lesson.”
So they walked over to the side of the room where two machines were
standing side by side.
“You see this weighing-machine,” said Brother Joyful; “I will just step
upon it and get weighed.”
He stepped upon the platform of the machine, but the indicator remained at
zero.
“Why, it seems it does not work this morning!”
“Of course not,” answered Brother Littlejoy, “you have to drop a penny in
the slot before it will act.”
Then Brother Joyful took a penny from his pocket and dropped it into the
slot. The indicator immediately flew around on the dial.
“One hundred and seventy-two pounds,” said Brother Joyful. “That is just
what I weighed two weeks ago. Now let us try this one, and have some
music.”
So saying, he took a disk from the rack and adjusted it in the machine and
pressed the lever, but nothing moved; no music came forth.
“Why,” said Brother Littlejoy, “it will not play until you drop a nickel
into the slot.”
“Oh,” said Brother Joyful, “that’s the way!”
He dropped a nickel into the slot, and the machine began sounding forth
its melody.
Sitting down on a seat near by, they listened until the music ceased, when
Brother Joyful said:
“You see I might have stood there on the platform of that weighing-machine
all day and wished to have known my weight ever so much, but I should not
have found it out until I had dropped a penny into the slot. We might have
stood there by the music-box all day and wished to hear it play; we might
have asked it ever so earnestly to play for us; but until the nickel was
dropped into the slot, there could be no music. Now, God has a
joy-machine, and it works on the plan of the slot-machines. You can see
its picture almost anywhere in the Bible. But there is a real place where
you can get the joy—real joy and there is plenty of it. This music-box
will play a tune for each nickel dropped into it, and so God’s joy-machine
will yield you a heartful of joyfulness every time you can get it to work,
and it always works whenever you proceed right. Some people merely stand
around and look at the box. They see others getting joy out of it and
often try to get joy, but somehow it does not work for them. The trouble
is, they do not put in the coin; in other words, they do not do what is
necessary to get the machine to work. The joy is there, plenty of it,
enough for everybody; there is no reason why people should be without it.”
“Well,” sighed Brother Littlejoy, “I would give almost anything if I knew
how to get joy like you; but I suppose it is not for me.”
“Right there is where you are mistaken,” said Brother Joyful. “Take
another lesson from those machines yonder. They are set out in plain
sight, and the public, everybody who wishes, may, by dropping coins into
the slots, get what the machines have to give. The more coins dropped, the
better the owners are pleased. They do not want the weights, they do not
want the music; these are provided for the public; and whosoever will may
have his full satisfaction on certain conditions. Now, God’s joy for his
children is just the same—the more they have of it, the better pleased he
is. The more joyful they are, the more joyful he is. You are mistaken in
thinking that you are denied joy. You are not denied it any more than you
are denied music from the music-box. If you know how to operate the box
and are willing to pay the price, you may have plenty of music. It is
equally true that if you are willing to pay the price, you can work God’s
joy-machine all you please.”
“Well,” said Brother Littlejoy, “I do wish I knew how. And what do you
mean by the price of joy?”
“It is something many people have not learned yet,” answered Brother
Joyful; “but I will tell you the secret. I will tell you how I get God’s
joy-machine to operate. A specified coin is required to operate these
machines, but there are many different things that will work God’s
machine. Sometimes one thing will do it, sometimes another, and sometimes
it takes several things together. The first thing I try is obedience.
Whole-hearted obedience to the Lord never fails to bring me a good supply
of joy, but that is a price many people are not willing to pay. They would
like to have the joy, but when it comes to obeying God and throwing their
whole soul into that obedience, they draw back. Often they obey
reluctantly, with more or less unwillingness in their hearts, or they want
to do it just a little differently from God’s way. That kind of obedience
never makes the joy-machine work. There are others who are willing to obey
God, provided he will do so-and-so to suit them. Such people wait a long
time for their joy. So long as the heart is closed up against God’s
commands, you can count on God keeping a lock on the joy-machine.
“Sometimes, and very often too, we have to drop some trust into the slot.
If you are doubting God and questioning whether he means what he says or
whether he will keep his promises, the machine will not work. When I want
a feast of joy, I make sure that I am obeying God, and then I tell him
that I believe him, that I trust myself and my all completely into his
hands, and that I feel perfectly safe in doing so; that I believe his eye
is over me and his everlasting arms are beneath me and that he will work
out everything for my good and keep me in whatever circumstances I am
placed. That makes the joy-machine work. Often it brings ‘joy unspeakable
and full of glory.’
“Of course, there is something else that goes with obedience and trust,
and that is really a part of them. It is submission. Unless our hearts
say, ‘Thy will be done,’ the joy-bells will not ring much. If we get any
joy, it will be only a sort of human enthusiasm. I say the heart must say
this. It is not enough for the mouth to say it; the heart must not say it
reluctantly nor hesitatingly, for the joy will not come until the heart
submits unreservedly.
“Praise is another thing that makes the machine work; that is, the kind of
praise that comes from the depths of the heart—the kind that comes
spontaneously from a deep appreciation of God’s goodness and mercy. Only
those who obey God have this kind. We may shout God’s praise loud enough
to be heard two blocks away; but if we are not obeying him, he knows it is
a pretense, and it will not work the machine. One may be ever so
enthusiastic, and seem to be very happy, but if he is not obeying God,
what he gets does not come out of God’s joy-machine. Praise amounts to
much when there is obedience back of it, but is nothing but noise when it
is otherwise.
“Sometimes it is patience and long-suffering that make the machine work.
Sometimes when opposition or accusation come or when railing, abuse,
scorn, or similar things must be borne, the joy-machine does not work
immediately. We have to put a good supply of patience into the slot, and
perhaps suffer a while; but when the proper time comes, they will make the
machine work all right.
“A smile or a cheery word or a bit of song, a kindly greeting, or almost
any kindly act put into the slot may fill up our cup with joy when we are
not expecting it. Sometimes nothing but enduring a hard trial will start
the joy flowing. One may not be very joyful during the trial; for the joy
generally comes at the end of the trial. Some people think that it would
be pleasant if they could put their trials into the slot and make the
joy-machine work, but it does not work that way. It is the endurance that
makes it work, and the endurance will not make it work until it is dropped
into the slot; that is, until we have endured through to the end of the
trial.
“Then, I find things in my pocket-book, too, that I can drop into the slot
to make the machine work. Money in the pocket-book will not make God’s
joy-machine work any more than it will make yonder machine play music.
When people look into their pocket-books and see only money, the only joy
it can make is a sort of selfish, human joy. I know of people who can see
something besides money in their pocket-books. Why, just the other day
Brother Sympathy looked into his pocket-book and saw a sack of flour there
for the Widow Grimes. And last fall one day he looked into it and saw a
whole ton of coal for old Mrs. Benson and an overcoat for Tom Jones, and a
little later he found a pair of shoes for Johnnie Peters. Of course, he
took them all out and delivered them to their owners. I suppose you wonder
why his face shone so in meeting. It was because these things, and many
more like them, kept God’s joy-machine going.
“Now, Brother Littlejoy, I have told you a few of the things that will
make the machine work when put into the slot, and I am sure that if you
will use them, your joy-cup will not be empty much of the time.”
“Well, Brother Joyful,” said Brother Littlejoy, “you have surely taught me
a lesson. If that is the way to get joy and if I can have it as well as
anybody, I think I shall try to get my share in the future. But how am I
to get rid of all my troubles and worries and heavy burdens?”
“Why,” answered Brother Joyful, “you are working the wrong machine; you do
not get such things from the Lord.”
“What do you mean?” asked Brother Littlejoy.
“Why, Satan has a slot-machine also, and many people are working it
overtime. Some good people are working it, but they do not know they are
using Satan’s machine.”
“Please explain yourself,” said Brother Littlejoy; “I do not know what you
mean.”
“It is this way,” replied Brother Joyful; “Satan has a great machine, or I
might say several different ones, and there are many different things that
can be dropped into the slots to make them work. But none of the things
that work God’s machine will work Satan’s. Now, you have, you say, trouble
and gloom and such things. These come from Satan’s machine. This is the
way it works: You drop some unbelief into the slot, and you get darkness
and fear; doubts, and you get gloom and despondency; disobedience, and you
get condemnation; fear, and you get weakness; murmuring, and you get
discouragement. Oh, there are many things you can get out of Satan’s
machine; and he is very glad to have you get them. Drop in some cross
words, some fretfulness, some self-will, a little pride, a little
suspicion of the brethren, a little envy, or anything of that sort, and
you will get a large return from Satan.
“Now, as I said, Brother Littlejoy, you have been working the wrong
machine, and if you will just think a while, you may be able to tell what
you have been putting into the slot to get these things that you would
like to be rid of. Perhaps it is a little disobedience or self-will or
unbelief. Make a good prayerful search and find out; then stop dropping
things into the devil’s slot-machine, turn your attention to learning how
to operate God’s joy machine, and I am sure you will soon see a gratifying
change.”
As Brother Littlejoy walked out of the door, he said to himself, “I think
Brother Joyful is right; I will begin working the other machine.”