Ya’ll. I may sound crazy, but lately I have been thinking about being happy. Not really whether or not I should be happy but what, exactly, that means. Is it a feeling or something circumstantial or… more?
If you were like me a couple of years ago, you were overjoyed to hear a new song that was simple, catchy, and happy. Actually, the title is literally “Happy.” Pharrell Williams may not have meant to insert a profound statement but it’s in there… “Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.” I didn’t think about it then but it struck me this week- there it is- happiness is the TRUTH. I think he was on to something.
One of the wonderful things about having trials and sufferings in life is that you gain perspective and understanding. At the time our baby boy died I had been in a period of suffering and grief for months, and then it was deepened tenfold. In the midst of this immeasurable pain was immeasurable mercy and love, and with it came peace and… joy. Not the kind of joy that makes you smile a lot and giggle and feel fuzzy, but the understanding that there was a protection over me, a hedge around my heart and hope in an abiding love. I knew joy unmatched awaited where my son had gone, and one day I would get there too. In our trials, James tells us to count it joy (happiness) because our trials grow our faith. I was able to count my suffering as joy because I was given an opportunity to cling closer to Jesus, the One who is truth, and goodness, and mercy, and love, and JOY. Glorifying Him in my trial gave me joy because my life was meant to do just that- I was living out my purpose.
In his book “When I Don’t Desire God” John Piper says,“Seeing the glory of Jesus Christ in the gospel awakens joy. And joy in Christ magnifies his worth. That is why Satan aims chiefly at blinding us from seeing Christ for who he is. He hates to see Christ honored. And Christ is mightily honored when the sight of his glory gives rise to the kind of gladness that cuts the nerve of sin and causes radical sacrifice in the cause of the gospel.”
I think we sometimes get caught up in thinking that happiness comes in moments, feelings, and circumstances. True joy comes by pursuing the One who created it. God wants us to have joy- in Galatians it is actually named a fruit of the spirit for those who profess to follow Christ. Sometimes that joy is a tearful, hard fought fight through tough circumstances and sometimes that joy is simple and lighthearted.
Whatever your trial or circumstance, may you cling to the One who promised to sustain you and endured the cross because of the joy that was to come.
. . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.
Psalm 43:4
No comments:
Post a Comment