Recently Dan & I have been talking a lot about the differences between happiness and joy - and we've come to decide there are quite a few. The Bible doesn't have a whole lot to say about being happy, but it certainly mentions joy on numerous occasions. "Consider it pure JOY, my brothers, when you face trials..." "Complete my JOY by being of the same mind..." "Restore to me the JOY of your salvation..."Shout for JOY to God, all the earth...," and of course "Love, JOY, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, faithfullness, gentleness, and self-control."
What is it about joy that God wanted to make sure that we didn't miss? And does this mean that the pursuit of happiness is a bad thing? You could even go so far as to ask does God not want us to be happy? I'm beginning to realize, however, that when I focus on the happiness part, I miss the whole point. I think God truly wants us to be happy - to rejoice in Him - but He also knows how fleeting these feelings of happiness will be if we do not also have a deep and abiding joy which accompanies it. There is a peace and contentment that always goes along with joy, and that's the part we really don't want to miss out on! It's that abiding thing that sustains us when we have good reason not to be happy - but our joy can remain.
All of us are searching for something, whether we know the Lord or not. Now, I'm clearly no professional on the issue, but sometimes I wonder if this depression that is so rampant in our culture today isn't somehow attributed to the pursuit of happiness, a cheap and disappointing counterfeit for the pursuit of true joy. I certainly do not mean to make light of the issue of depression - I realize that there are so many different elements and I don't pretend to understand them all. All I'm saying is that I wonder how often we settle for something far less than what the Lord really wants to give us. Christ Jesus himself said this, "As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love....These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full." (John 15:9-11)
Let me end with these words from someone much more intelligent than myself - Charles Spurgeon said this: ...It is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon Him for the music. O Thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Just some food for thought - something that's been rolling around in my head lately. Wish I had a beautiful picture to go with it...but I guess the oreo at the top of the page might bring joy to some :)
What is it about joy that God wanted to make sure that we didn't miss? And does this mean that the pursuit of happiness is a bad thing? You could even go so far as to ask does God not want us to be happy? I'm beginning to realize, however, that when I focus on the happiness part, I miss the whole point. I think God truly wants us to be happy - to rejoice in Him - but He also knows how fleeting these feelings of happiness will be if we do not also have a deep and abiding joy which accompanies it. There is a peace and contentment that always goes along with joy, and that's the part we really don't want to miss out on! It's that abiding thing that sustains us when we have good reason not to be happy - but our joy can remain.
All of us are searching for something, whether we know the Lord or not. Now, I'm clearly no professional on the issue, but sometimes I wonder if this depression that is so rampant in our culture today isn't somehow attributed to the pursuit of happiness, a cheap and disappointing counterfeit for the pursuit of true joy. I certainly do not mean to make light of the issue of depression - I realize that there are so many different elements and I don't pretend to understand them all. All I'm saying is that I wonder how often we settle for something far less than what the Lord really wants to give us. Christ Jesus himself said this, "As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love....These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full." (John 15:9-11)
Let me end with these words from someone much more intelligent than myself - Charles Spurgeon said this: ...It is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon Him for the music. O Thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Just some food for thought - something that's been rolling around in my head lately. Wish I had a beautiful picture to go with it...but I guess the oreo at the top of the page might bring joy to some :)
3 comments:
great post. it's interesting because I was just reading some of C.S. Lewis' thoughts on joy. Maybe I'll blog some on those tomorrow to share them with you. I'm glad you invited me to this world :)
and i can't wait to see you. o so soon.
Nice picture. That makes me "joyfull"
Dad
Yes! I absolutely agree, that our culture - even Christians - has been trained to seek the things, jobs, even people and relationships that will make us "happy" without even realizing that all of those things - not the world's best job, or having great financial means, or even having an incredibly loving marriage - would not fulfill our hearts compared to one ounce of the sheer joy of knowing Christ. Once we know that, all the things and blessings of our lives can enhance our joy, but they can never be the original source. :)
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