Joy vs. happiness

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

"Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay,  My, oh, my, what a wonderful day, Plenty of sunshine headin' my way."

If you've lived any length of time, you have figured out by now that all the aphorisms in the world are powerless to really help or change you from the inside out.  It's like putting on a brand new outfit.  It may make you "feel" better for a while because you look better on the outside.  But on the inside, you're still you.  

Perhaps past hurts still haunt you.  Perhaps you are addicted to worrying.  Perhaps you've read all the "self-help" books and still, you come up empty.

Why can't we just muster ourselves into a better self?  Because that is not how any of us are designed.

We are designed for a personal, intimate relationship with our Creator.  And, alleluia, this is possible through Jesus Christ.  We can now come close to God because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  

Frankly, I don't know how people survive apart from a relationship with God.  There are only so many bootstraps you can pull up on before you realize that your proverbial bootstraps are powerless to really make you into anything else other than a superficially "happy" person, if that.  

Now, once you are found in Christ, does that mean that the world is a Zip-a-dee-doo-dah place?  Not at all.  The world is still the world - in one big ol' heap of a mess.  And all of the reforms, policies, and laws we slap on it will never, no never, fix it.  

That utopia we all crave is not to be found here.  Not yet, anyway.  The Millennial reign of Christ - that is where we will finally know true peace on earth - when Christ is at the helm.  What a glorious time that will be.  But that is for another blog.

For now, I want to talk about how we can know joy in the midst of a fallen world.  Joy in the midst of crappy circumstances.  Joy in the midst of heartache and frustration and emotional pain.

How is this possible?

Throughout Scripture we see that God's people had joy in the midst of horrible circumstances.  So why not us, here and now, in our less-than-welcome circumstances?  

If you've never experienced this joy, it is hard to explain.  But I'm going to try!

I have felt the Lord's joy in me during some of the darkest times of my life.  What was happening around me was horrendous.  That is precisely when I felt Him near to me.  His peace was inside me.  His Presence was close.  His joy - a feeling of total comfort - was inside me.

Happiness is fleeting.  It is ever-shifting.  It is to unreliable.  And it doesn't fill me up.  Oh it may "feel good" to laugh and have fun in life.  But then it ends.  The party's over.  And if you are counting on people to "make you" feel good, be forewarned!  They will not always be there for you.  Guaranteed.  This is not written out of an ounce of bitterness, but experience.  People move far away and you lose touch.  Friends turn on you.  Loved ones die.  These are just the facts of life, dear one.

But there is One Who never fails.  There is a Source you can turn to no matter what.  He will never, no never desert you or harm you.  He will love you always.  He always listens.  He always cares.  He wants you.  His heart is for you.  He never puts you down.  He can be fully trusted.

Who in their right mind doesn't want to know someone like that?!

Why settle for mere happiness when you can know joy?  Why depend on things, people, places, or stimulants that wear off and only leave you feeling worse?  

I want joy!  And if that means being in an unbearable situation - if knowing Christ's joy is somehow found in the suffering - then so be it.  It's not that I want to suffer.  But I don't fight it any more.  I simply go to Christ.  I bask in Him.  I want Him - more of Him - because He is the only place where there is true, powerful, heart-filling joy.

We're all going to suffer, whether we like it or not.  This pandemic has separated the proverbial "boys from the men."  I've watched how people handle it.  Those who are used to feeling "in control," manufacturing their own sense of security or happiness, they are lost, confused, and afraid.  Angry.

True Christians, however, if they are nurturing their relationship with Christ still are strong, resilient, even, dare I say it, joyful on the inside.  You see, we know the One Who is truly in control.  We know that He has allowed this pandemic not for our suffering but to call out to us - "Will you turn to Me, now?  What will it take to get your attention?"  Oh how He longs for you to receive Him, to call out to Him.  

Don't think you need God?  Think again, dear friend.  We all do.  We were made for Him.

Oh Lord, how we need You.  Only You can give us the joy our hearts so desperately need and want.  Thank You that we can know and feel Your joy in us no matter what.  Thank You that Your joy can be had not just when we hurt, but especially when we hurt.  Fill us with Your joy, Lord!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.