How\’s Your Happy?

During dinner, our family takes turns asking and answering various questions, some serious, some fun. One of the questions we regularly discuss is one emotion we felt during the day. 90% of the time the kids choose happy as their emotion. I printed out emotion charts with little emoji’s to help the kids identify other feelings, but even with this aid, happy was still the favored emotion. I am ashamed to say, but it started to annoy me. I encouraged them to think about different parts of their day and reminded them of times they were sad, surprised, confused. But, they always come back to happy. Happy is what they want to remember. Kids are good at being happy.

As Christians sometimes we make a distinction between joy and happiness. Joy being “Christian” and happiness being worldly. But, there is no such division in scripture. Joy and happiness are synonyms. Throughout the Bible joy and happiness are used interchangeably, along with other words such as delight, gladness and blessed. Randy Alcorn wrote a book called God’s Promise of Happiness in which he reveals extensive research proving the lack of distinction in the uses of joy and happiness in the Bible. Whether you call it joy or happiness, it is something we all long for.

God, in his common grace allows Believers and unbelievers alike to experience happiness. God is the source of all happiness. James says that every good gift originates from God (James 1:17). Whether or not a person acknowledges where the gift is from, he or she can still enjoy the goodness of it. There is much in this life to be happy about, and we should enjoy God\’s good gifts to us. But no matter how much happiness a person experiences, God alone is the all-satisfying good. Only in Him do we find what we are truly seeking in wanting to be happy.

I am blown away by the example of joy set by the author of Psalm 119. This individual displays a lavish delight and joy in God’s Word that far exceeds anything else in life. His words speak for themselves: “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart” (Psalm 119:111). “Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight” (Psalm 119:143). “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil” (Psalm 119:162). What baffles me most is that this was written when the Bible only consisted of the Torah. How much more now do we have to rejoice in Jesus and all the glorious goodness that comes with him?

I’ve never considered joy to be a natural characteristic of mine. I’m more of the serious, practical type. And, after many years of physical sickness and pain, I’ve struggled even more to retain joy. Not only that, but I think I have seen illness as an excuse to not be happy. How can I be happy when I feel so miserable? 

2020 gives us plenty of reasons to not be happy. And, add to that any personal or familial suffering, and you have the perfect set-up for wearing a perpetual rain cloud over you head. 

Joy doesn’t just fall into our laps. We need to pray for it continually. Fight for it with passion. And exude it through praise when we don’t feel it. 

Part of our inheritance as children of God is untouchable joy. In John 16 Jesus said that no one can take away our joy. He guaranteed it by his death and resurrection. When we ground our joy in the finished work of Jesus, it is secure. No matter the difficulties, distresses or even physical death of this life can take it away. Oh, that we might experience this joy for what it is! How it would guard us from days of depression and nights of anguish.

Everyone seeks happiness. God made us that way. And as Believers, not only are we commanded throughout Scripture to be happy and rejoice, but we have everything we need in Jesus to be perpetually happy. This doesn’t mean we walk around with smiles all the time, but we do have a secure foundation of joy that the world cannot touch. So, I will leave you with Paul’s admonition, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).