Happiness vs Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
(James 1:2-3)

Meditation

“Oh boy, I just got fired from my job!” or “Yippy, I’ve got cancer!” said NO ONE, ever! We could sit around and mope and whine about our circumstances or we can stand up and face them with the joy of Christ in our hearts. In our walk with Jesus there are always going to be highs – when we’re on the mountain tops; and lows – when we’re in the valleys. It always feels much better to be up on the mountain top. That’s when everything in our lives is going great and there isn’t a worry in sight. However, it’s also when our faith and trust in God weakens. It’s just human nature. We’re either misled into believing God is so pleased with us he will never let anything bad happen to us. Or, it’s all because of what we’ve done, and we don’t really need God.
It wouldn’t be natural to be happy about being in the valley but being happy and having joy are two different things. Happiness is a conditional response to something in our lives. When our spouse does something nice for us, we’re happy. However, when our spouse does something wrong, we’re unhappy. Joy is an attitude that is counter to whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. When we get terrible news, like losing a job, or a cancer diagnosis, we should drop to our knees and pray for God to help us get through. We will also have the added side effect of coming closer to God. It’s there, when we’re closer to God, that the joy can be counted. So, the next time some bad news comes our way, if we ask God to help us hold on to our joy, we will grow in our relationship to him. At the same time, he helps us defeat whatever comes up against us.
When Jesus was tested in the wilderness, he didn’t cry out about how he’d lost his joy. He didn’t sit on the rocks and wonder why his Father wasn’t helping him. He prayed and quoted scripture to the devil who was temping him. When he was in the Garden on the night he was betrayed, he didn’t complain about a lack of joy in his heart. He bowed to the Father’s will and was thereby strengthened. While he hung on the cross, his joy was evident in that he asked the Father to forgive those who were persecuting him. It’s hard to imagine Jesus was happy about his suffering, but his joy was made complete on the third day. When we’re tested, we can find completeness in how we rely on our faith in God to restore our joy. Hallelujah!





Prayer Time

Oh God, Lord of heaven and earth, your name is above all other names. We give you all praise and worship because you alone are worthy. We have never been tested as Jesus was, Father, but we’re thankful that he was willing. When trials do come our way, help us to seek your face, instead of whining about our circumstances. Help us to find joy in our relationship with you, and know we are in good company when the inevitable trials come. Teach us, Lord, that happiness is not the same thing as joy. Help us understand we can be unhappy and still have joy in our hearts. Even when we’re in the deepest valleys of life, we can find joy in the knowledge that you still love us. In the midst of the worst moments of our lives, our joy comes from knowing we’ll be with you one day. We ask you to give us courage to face whatever trials that come our way, and to turn to you when our joy weakens. We know we can trust you will replenish our joy every time we ask. We pray this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen!

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