Less Happiness, More Joy

In a meeting I was in last Saturday, we were talking about happiness and joy and how they are different. The opposite of happy is unhappy, or sad. The opposite of joy is a little different. It’s certainly not unjoy. Maybe the opposite is anguish or something like that. The point is that joy is a powerful word. I think that happiness is the pleasure of this world and joy is the pleasure of another world – the realm of the Creator. If we focus on happiness, we are focusing on the pleasures of the physical world. And we know that the physical world will eventually let us down. But if we focus on the other world – the time when we will spend eternity with our Creator – it’s a different story. His promise does not change from day to day.

There is something else about focusing on happiness that can be a problem. It’s said that tragedy brings us closer to God. Isn’t the opposite true? Often when things are going well we lose focus on God. When your marriage is great, you get promoted at work, your child is an honor student, you are healthy, etc., there is a tendency to think about how well you have done. How well YOU have done. It’s easy to think that all of these blessings are of our own doing and when we think this, we become separated from God. I see this all time. So maybe we should pray for less happiness and more joy. What? That’s absurd. Why would we not want to be happy? Maybe if our happiness is drawing us away from God. Philippians 1:29 (NKJV) says "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake,” and in 1 Peter 2:20 (NKJV) “But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.” And in Paul’s letter in 2 Corinthians 12:7- 9 (NKJV) “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”

So suffering (and that doesn’t sound like happiness) not only brings us closer to God, it is a gift from God. And when we get closer to God, that brings more joy into our lives. So maybe we should pray for less happiness and more joy. And when the suffering comes (as we know it will), use it as an opportunity to thank God for bringing you closer to Him. And when happiness comes, use that as an opportunity to praise God for the blessings He has given you – and the even greater joy that He has promised you.