Happiness Versus Joy

OK, I'm confused. He was thrown in jail...frequently run out of town with a mob chasing him, tar and feathers in hand...he was publicly stripped, humiliated and beaten, numerous times...shipwrecked... mocked...cursed at...arrested and put in jail again...and then again...and again...until ultimately he was executed (tradition has it he was beheaded near Rome)--all for his faith. It seems that almost everywhere the apostle Paul went, he was given a rough time, and made to suffer for his faith and his proclamation about Jesus--which never wavered in the midst of it all, by the way. Indeed, that proclamation seemed somehow to be intimately connected to the source of Paul's unwavering joy.

Still it all makes me wonder, what on EARTH did Paul have to be joyful about??

JOY is a theme that frequently appears in Paul's writing, and nowhere more so than in his letter to the Philippians...some fifteen or sixteen times. He mentions in one place about being joyful in every circumstance, no matter what.

No matter what? Even when my annuity fund is down by...geesh, I don't even want to look! Even when I get bad news from the doctor? Even when a loved one is giving me--consistently and irrationally--a hard time, and tons of grief? Even when my job looks shaky? Even when I cave in--yet again--to temptations I want to be rid of? Even when my team is 0-5? Even when all of that happens in the same week?

Even when my world seems to be falling apart???

Yep...even then. Perhaps, oddly enough, especially then. But it's one of those things that, if it is not experienced, cannot be remotely understood. And if not sought, will never be found.

If I look to Paul as a model, I learn something about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is temporary, and fleeting. It is also conditional, based more on emotion and circumstance than anything else. At the end of a fairy tale, when it says "they lived happily ever after"...well, that's why we call them fairy tales! We know it just ain't so in "real life."

But joy...true joy, lasting joy...it is not to be found in earth. Or should I say, from earth, from any worldly or material or emotional source. All those will fail us, sooner or later, all of 'em (and probably sooner). I asked above what on earth did Paul have to be joyful about; and the answer is...nothing. Nothing on earth, from the world. He says it quite clearly in Philippians, where he counts everything that the world has to offer, ultimately (including all the education, successes, and kudos from his own past), as nothing but garbage. Mere rubbish. Instead, he looks to Christ as the only source of JOY, of ultimate validation, and eternal meaning.

I think, in our search for happiness in life, we ought to be looking instead for joy. Not that a little happiness now and then wouldn't hurt, mind you! But so often the things we seek after to be happy...well, they just don't last. And too often they are just downright deceptive, unhealthy, or even destructive. And they certainly don't give us the DEEP JOY that can help us--move us, motivate us--to rejoice and praise God, even when the stuff has hit the fan, or the market had dropped another 600 points. That deep joy to me is like that "peace that passes all understanding." And why shouldn't? It comes from God, who is far beyond our combined comprehension and ability to understand. So, instead of trying to understand why I am unhappy, and confused about why happiness does not last, I will instead try to draw closer to the source of incomprehensible (even nonsensical, by worldly measures) Love. Draw close to unmerited Grace. Pray for and wish for and seek after the One who never stops seeking me, and who died, rose, and lives still, to LOVE ME. To help me have true, lasting JOY.

Call to Worship

Lord of all Creation, Source of Eternal Peace, Provider of Lasting Joy,
Hear our prayers today, as You always do,
And help us learn to trust more in You.
From the first breath of a new day, to the closing of our eyes at night in sleep,
You stand ready to bless us with Your joy and Your peace,
Stand willing to embrace us with arms of Holy Love.
May Your Spirit indwell our worship, our praise, our singing;
And may He indwell our very lives, so that me rejoice again, and again.
And again; and again; and again!
Accept the praise we bring, O Lord, and bless us with joy and peace!
We lift our hearts to You with gladness, our eyes with hope,
Our arms in gratitude, and our praises with JOY!