One of the challenges for me in preaching on the theme of “Joy” is the amount of time that I’ve heard sermons on this subject attempt to define the difference between joy and happiness. Most of the time, this is done because of statements like “I don’t care what I believe, as long as I’m happy;” or “It doesn’t matter how I live, as long as I’m happy.” So, to be fair, preachers attempt to redefine an unwise humanistic use of the word ‘happy’ and then contrast happiness with biblical joy.
Here are two typically stated statements that I’ve wondered about over the years and actually came to me as I studied about ‘joy’ this past week.
- Usually, the statement is made, “God cares more about your holiness than your happiness,” which is true, to a point. It’s true that God cares about our holiness. This is why Jesus came. But what if happiness is found in holiness? As I pointed out on Sunday, the Beatitudes begin with describing how to live a “blessed” or “happy” life. And we could say, “Happy are those who hunger for righteousness, are merciful, etc.” And in John 15:11, Jesus’ words strike at the heart of this when he said that He told us all about abiding in Him, bearing fruit, and obeying His commands, as a pathway to receiving His joy and our joy being full. So, here’s an interesting thought: holiness is a pathway to happiness, but happiness found in our relationship with God, motivates holiness.
- The other statement about joy vs. happiness is usually “joy is lasting and not dependent on circumstances, but happiness is temporal.” Again, I believe this is an attempt to help us see contrast an unwise, humanistic use of ‘happy.’ And we need to be careful because ‘happy’ and ‘joy’ can be synonyms in the Bible both are used to describe God. So, if both words can describe God, is it true that happiness is temporal and joy is eternal? Not necessarily.
Now, what if, which I believe Scripture teaches, we can find our joy/happiness in our relationship with God and see all things as gifts from His hands? See, that’s lasting. But if we try to find our joy/happiness in anything other than our relationship with God, it is temporal. This is why John Calvin asked this question: “For what is idolatry? To worship the gifts in place of the Giver.” Our issue is not that we have temporal happiness vs. eternal joy. Our issue is that we’re looking for happiness/joy in all the wrong places.
So, practically:
- This Christmas, when you receive a gift, thank the person who gave it to you and in your heart, give thanks to God for the mere fact that someone was kind enough to give you anything and that giving reveals God’s heart towards you.
- When you see or hear something that brings you delight, recognize the God who is there behind it all. When I’m listening to music that I love, I stop and thank God for making musicians who are so talented. It makes me enjoy the music even more.
- When you’re rejected by a friend, take time to thank God that Jesus is a “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” He will never leave you. He’s always beside you.
- When you’re struggling with joy/happiness…remind yourself of the smile on God’s face towards you if you believe in Jesus. Remind yourself that the Source of joy can and will give you joy.
Best Blogs I’ve read on Joy/Happiness of God:
As a side note, our staff is currently making our way through Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything. I read a lot last week on this subject and really enjoyed myself. I think you’ll enjoy it. Here are a few posts that will encourage your soul about God’s happiness:
- “Is Happiness different from Joy?”: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-happiness-different-from-joy by John Piper and Randy Alcorn.
- “No One was Happier than Jesus”: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/no-one-was-happier-than-jesus by John Piper.
- “Common Christian Myths about Happiness”: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/common-christian-myths-about-happiness by Randy Alcorn
Yes, you probably notice these are all from Desiring God (John Piper’s ministry site). That is mainly because Piper has perhaps written on this subject more than most current Christian thinkers.
On a completely different subject:
Recently I was reminded of how worlds collide at Christmas time when families come together. Part of that is thinking through the new marriages in our church (we had 5 weddings this summer) and remembering when Jill and I celebrated our first Christmas together with my family and then with her family. The cultural shock for both of us was real!… And it was mainly experienced at the moment of opening gifts. Jill’s family hands one gift to one person, and we all watch them open it. Then they go to the next person. Very orderly, very deliberate, and it took a while. They wanted to enjoy it and savor it. After opening gifts, the wrapping was already in the garbage, and everyone could enjoy their gifts. My family was more like a battle zone…gifts are under the tree to be OPENED…and now! So, we were told it was time to come out (Usually around 4:00 a.m. because my parents were more excited than we were), and we ran to the tree, rummaging through the gifts to see which one was ours and just went for it. Then about 30 minutes later, with Christmas wrapping all over and gifts spread out, we went back to bed:). You can imagine Jill at that moment…so rather than going back to bed on that first Christmas with my family, she stayed up, put the wrapping in the trash, and organized our gifts in our own piles. I was sound asleep…
So, through the years, we’ve adopted parts of both…after reading our devotional and praying together, our kids come out when we call them; they each go through their stockings on their own, like my family would. Then we orderly give each other gifts for one person to open at a time. It really is a blast. But it’s part of OUR traditions as worlds collided all those years ago.
Take time this Christmas to laugh at these type of moments and to enjoy it together. And marvel that God would put families together to make up new things.
From the Cheap Seats:
- I need to brag a little bit…the UVC Junior High Boys’ Basketball teams were fantastic this year. The ‘B’ team, which had boys that attend CLF on it (Hezekiah Castellanos, Wyatt Fox, and Caleb York) went undefeated. The ‘A’ team, which also had CLF guys on it (Justice Bendele, Caleb Saylor, Hezekiah, and Caleb Y) won the Little Fir League Championship by beating Oakland in a dominant performance. And, they were coached by a CLF member, Kevin Saylor, along with two other great coaches, Dennis Chrisenberry and Jeremy Sprague. It was fun.
- I cannot think of the last time I actually believed that the Cowboys’ defense was carrying the team. And Micah Parsons seems like a great dude and a great teammate. He’s got a chance to be the Defensive Player of the Year…as a Rookie. There’s a shortlist of 1 who’s done that…Lawrence Taylor.
- How does UEFA forget to add Manchester United into one of the draws for the Champions League knockout stage? I get mistakes, but doesn’t that seem like a big one?
Praying for you and thanking God for you.
To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.
In Christ,
Dave York
