So, I have a question for you.
Are you happy?
Yes?
No?
Alright, second question.
Do you have joy?
Same question, you say?
I don’t believe so.
I think happiness and joy are two different things.
Here’s why.
I’ve been really happy before even when I had no joy.
And I’ve had joy before even in unhappy situations.
Confused yet?
I’ll explain.
I believe happiness comes mainly from the world.
Things of this world are able to make you happy.
And happiness is always situational.
Which means, depending on what is going on in a situation,
you will be happy or unhappy.
Have you ever been happy and then the situation changed
resulting in you immediately becoming unhappy?
I’m guessing probably so.
So happiness, then, is fleeting.
But joy is different.
Joy is lasting.
Joy is from God.
Joy is a gift from the Father.
And if you allow it, joy is eternal.
See, joy is something deep.
It is different than happiness which comes and goes.
The joy of the Lord lasts forever.
Despite the situation.
Okay, I’m going to admit something pretty heavy.
Church, don’t hang me for this.
I believe that the happiness of the world
is usually more fun than the joy of the Lord.
“What did he just say?”
“Did he really admit that?”
Yes I did, and I hold to it.
Else, why would anyone seek it over joy?
Getting drunk is fun.
Drugs are fun.
Seeking the opposite sex is fun.
Lying, cheating, stealing, rebelling–
All those things are fun.
But the problem is that that fun fades.
And in the end, you’re always left with nothing.
After you get drunk or high, you’re sober.
After you seek women or men lustfully, you’re left empty.
The happiness of the world eventually ends.
But joy remains.
And without God you can’t have joy.
Because joy is an eternal gift.
If you’re not acting in the eternal, than how can you share in an eternal gift?
Joy is a mixture of things.
Peace, Faith, and most of all, Contentment.
And each of those comes from the Lord.
When you have joy, no matter how good or bad the situation,
the Peace of the Lord calms you.
the Faith of the Father lifts your spirit.
and the Contentment of the Creator takes away the attacks of the Enemy.
Anxiety, Worry, Frustration.
All those begin to fade when you have true joy in the Spirit.
Four years ago my cousin Andrew, ten years old at the time, suddenly and unexpectedly died of a brain aneurism. I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I had ever dealt with in my entire life. But when I walked to the pulpit–tears streaming down my face–to give a speech at his funeral, the words that left my lips were these: “I hate the fact that Andrew is dead. I hate that I don’t get any more years with him. I am so sad that he is gone from our lives. And yet, I feel such a peace from the Lord about it. To be honest, I hate that I feel peace about this. But I do.”
I don’t believe God caused my cousin’s death.
But I do believe, when Andrew died, that God gave us that peace.
To know that He had him in His home with Him.
And that Andrew was okay.
That though this tragic thing has happened,
God was still there for us.
Andrew is leaping for joy with Jesus right now in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Andrew is eternal.
And so, even though the situation was horrible here on Earth.
I was still able to have joy.
That is the real power of true joy from God.
That we are able to focus not on our situation,
Or our problems,
Or on the world.
But on eternity.
I promise you.
When this life ends, the happiness of this world will be found meaningless.
But the joy of the Lord lasts forever.
Stop investing in the world’s temporary trash.
Start sowing your eternal seeds.
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If you would like to check out my new blog, with everything from the World Race and all my missions since then and even now in Japan, please click on this link for my blog The Vagabond Missionary. Thank you always for your support!
