Joy is much bigger than happiness.

Joy is much bigger than happiness. While happiness is often seen as being dependent on external circumstances, joy is not. – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Dear Friend,

Strange as it may seem to some, happiness is surpassed by joy. For the man or woman in excruciating pain, it is not the time to talk to them about happiness. Many a person in the throes of death has, however, expressed delightful joy, knowing that all is right with their souls,  and there is nothing between them and their heavenly Father. Happiness generally comes and goes with the circumstances; however, as Paul reminds us, we can have contentment in whatsoever circumstance we find ourselves in—not with happiness, so to speak, but in contentment with pure joy.

Ray C. Stedman once told the following story about:

The Quaker who put a sign on his house one day that said, "I will give this house to any man who can prove to me that he is content." After a bit, someone came knocking at the door and said he saw the sign out front and wanted to claim the house. He said he was perfectly content. The Quaker asked what he meant. He said, "I have everything I want, all the money I need, everything in life that could satisfy. I am perfectly content." The Quaker said, "Friend, if thee is so content what does thee want with my house?"

Amazing, isn’t it, how subtly a desire for more can creep up on us, thinking, of course, that more will bring joy. Happiness may come, perhaps, but no joy. For, you see, joyful contentment is primarily the result of an act of faith—it is a choice, an attitude that rests firmly in confident obedience to the will of God. Try as you might, you will never be joyful—that is, truly content until you submit to God’s will. Now to commit to God’s will in forceful obedience is not one and the same. Jonah eventually obeyed but never submitted. As far as I know, he never experiences joy, he complained until his dying breath. Just think of how much easier life would have been for him had he simply submitted to the will of God. Try as I might, I cannot see how poor old Jonah could ever expect anything but gloom with the attitude he carried.

Personally, I like to think of joy as a matter of what I call “attitudinal faith,” for if your attitude is right with God contentment and joy will come. The truth is, everyone has an attitude, it’s up to us to pick a good one. Scripture affirms this, for as the Book of Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 7, says:

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

So, the bottom line (to put it in plain English) is "wonky thoughts, wonky heart."

Trust you have a great day in the Lord,
 

Take care, and remember He cares for you!

 JimR_/