Happiness Verses Joy
Often we think of happiness and joy in the same breath but are they the same? What do you think?
Dec 13 2015 Advent 3 Isaiah 12: 2-6 Philippians 4: 4-7
Have you grown up with an understanding that being happy or joyful are basically one in the same? May I suggest to you that this notion might not be true. Some scholars suggest that worldly
happiness is fleeting and illusive and that it is a product of the mind, brought about by desire. We think we feel happiness in our heart but it only resides in the head and doesn’t hang around very long either.
In fact happiness comes and goes just like your pay check. One minute you
have it the next minute someone or some- thing has it. Did you know
that the Joy found through faith in God and taught by Jesus, does not require
happiness as a companion? Psalm 46: God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. This joy is not of the mind it is a deeper
joy, a knowing, something of the heart it doesn’t make you happy it makes you
joyful. When you accept this joy, it’s
yours forever and no one can take it from you, although you do have the power
to refuse, ignore or reject it. Once you have accepted this joy,
the words from all holy scriptures begin to speak to your heart. Such as Psalm
27: God is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? God is the
stronghold of my life: of whom shall I be afraid. Joy has the power to dispel fear. Happiness has no power here.
As strange as this may sound, the companion for
biblical Joy isn’t happiness it is struggle or suffering. Does that
disturb you?!! You can’t have one without the other, they are
companions. Now I ask you, try to make struggle or suffering a companion
for worldly happiness. No matter how you try it, making them companions
just doesn’t seem to work. Yet suffering and Joy as buzzer as it
may sound to some, do go together, much the same as hot and cold, darkness
and light, bad and good. You cannot know one without the other. Jesus’ conception and birth produced pain and
suffering for both Joseph and Mary, yet brought them great Joy, just as Jesus’
suffering on the cross produced great Joy for our world. The bible tells
us that the Joy He offers us, would be a joy the world could not
understand. Somewhere deep down in our hearts we know that you can’t
really appreciate light until you have been in the pit of darkness. You
can’t feel relief, unless you have experienced the pain. Joy and
suffering are companions, they go hand in hand. You can’t really
appreciate the joy of living that the New Testament offers us, until you have learned
to work with the bitterness of life that the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament offer us. We also know that continual
happiness is a foolish dream, a fragment of our imagination and besides, it’s
illusive. Joy on the other hand can bring you something much greater than
happiness, it can bring you contentment. Meaning you can be happy with
nothing. Now I know that’s
not good news for some of us especially those who have a lot to lose. Here is a stranger thing about
happiness and joy. To maintain
happiness, it requires you to hold on, to cling to someone or some “thing” believing
you cannot be happy without it. To
maintain Joy, it requires you to let go, let go of “things” not clinging to anything you will receive the freedom joy offers. Then something profound happens, it changes
you. Don't get me wrong I am not down on happiness we just need to understand its true purpose and limitations.
I want you to think about this for a moment folks, the companion of worldly happiness is to gather and achievement not to be contented. You have to do something, you have to achieve something in order to fulfill or attain worldly happiness, and we all know that this kind of happy feeling only lasts for a short period. You can’t maintain it for long, soon we slip back into old patterns of wanting or needing more, just so we can be happy again. It is a vicious circle of unending anxiety and confusion. With happiness contentment is eluded. On the other hand as strange as it may sound, the companion of Joy is to struggle. As we struggle with the “things” of life and then let them go, contentment begins to find you. Once you have experienced joy, no one can take it from you, but it is up to you to maintain it. It doesn’t come from things, and it doesn’t just make you happy it fills an emptiness within you and when it happens, you begin to know and understand what the bible teaches us about the suffering that brings Joy. One of the greatest examples I know of, especially for women is, pregnancy. It’s scary at first, then you become uncomfortable, your body begins to loose it shapeliness. Often rashes can brake out; there could be morning sickness, major mood swings can occur. It doesn’t stop there either: soon you feel the pain and many suffer during the hours of labor, then it comes. Mothers tell of the overwhelming joy, of great relief, and a wonderful sense of contentment. Now everything is changed, not just momentarily but forever. This was the experience of Mary and Joseph on that wonderful night. Joy did not mean that their troubles were over, and neither is ours, but the joy Jesus would bring to the world would last for eternity. True Joy is the quiet confident assurance of God’s love in our lives no matter what. God assures us, I will be there for you through the good and bad day of your life, all you need to do is trust in Me. To have a relationship with His son is the most joyful thing you will ever do in your lifetime. For He is truly the source of Joy, He is the Prince of Peace, He offers Hope to those who feel lost and loves us unconditional. Isn’t that GREAT!!! do you have this JOY!!!!
I want you to think about this for a moment folks, the companion of worldly happiness is to gather and achievement not to be contented. You have to do something, you have to achieve something in order to fulfill or attain worldly happiness, and we all know that this kind of happy feeling only lasts for a short period. You can’t maintain it for long, soon we slip back into old patterns of wanting or needing more, just so we can be happy again. It is a vicious circle of unending anxiety and confusion. With happiness contentment is eluded. On the other hand as strange as it may sound, the companion of Joy is to struggle. As we struggle with the “things” of life and then let them go, contentment begins to find you. Once you have experienced joy, no one can take it from you, but it is up to you to maintain it. It doesn’t come from things, and it doesn’t just make you happy it fills an emptiness within you and when it happens, you begin to know and understand what the bible teaches us about the suffering that brings Joy. One of the greatest examples I know of, especially for women is, pregnancy. It’s scary at first, then you become uncomfortable, your body begins to loose it shapeliness. Often rashes can brake out; there could be morning sickness, major mood swings can occur. It doesn’t stop there either: soon you feel the pain and many suffer during the hours of labor, then it comes. Mothers tell of the overwhelming joy, of great relief, and a wonderful sense of contentment. Now everything is changed, not just momentarily but forever. This was the experience of Mary and Joseph on that wonderful night. Joy did not mean that their troubles were over, and neither is ours, but the joy Jesus would bring to the world would last for eternity. True Joy is the quiet confident assurance of God’s love in our lives no matter what. God assures us, I will be there for you through the good and bad day of your life, all you need to do is trust in Me. To have a relationship with His son is the most joyful thing you will ever do in your lifetime. For He is truly the source of Joy, He is the Prince of Peace, He offers Hope to those who feel lost and loves us unconditional. Isn’t that GREAT!!! do you have this JOY!!!!
Did you know that there is such a thing as wasted
suffering? What I mean here is, suffering can get
trapped as it become rooted in un-forgiveness or pride, revenge, anger, hatred,
jealously, or good old conditional love, rendering it wasted. The
scriptures tell us about how destructive these things can be for us. You
know the old joke, I paid dearly for my misery, and no one is going
to take it from me. The limiest test for unhealthily suffering
is the absence of joy. Again what is Joy? May I suggest to you that Joy is the quiet
confident assurance of God’s love in our lives no matter the circumstances.
Wasted suffering can only produce more agony if rooted in any of the
things I just mentioned. Pain is prolonged and intensified because of
where it is trapped. On the other hand suffering that is not
wasted is rooted in a relationship with God in Christ. Jesus teaches us
that our suffering is not wasted if we can turn our suffering into compassion
for others. By serving others we not only bring hope to them, we begin to
feel the Joy of serving. When we can turn our suffering into
forgiveness for those who have trespassed against us, we not only bring hope,
we begin to feel the freedom our Joy offers us through the gift of
forgiveness. If I can look into a mirror and truthfully love the
person I see, it fills the heart of God to overflowing and I begin to feel the
contentment and Joy of God's unconditional love. You are precious, unique
and loved, may you remember that your name is carved on the palm of God hand,
and God will never forsake or you.
Let there be Joy
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