Recently, I met with a friend who was struggling with some choices he was making in his life. He had been starting to address some of his issues and was presented with a temptation. He commented to me that he was sure that God wants us to be happy and he thought pursuing this temptation might result in happiness. Apparently, God was preparing me for this conversation because a few days earlier I had read a commentary from a pastor discussing happiness.
The pastor’s name is Nicky Gumbel and this is specifically what he wrote and what I shared with my friend. “We all want to live happy lives.”Happiness”, wrote Aristotle,”Is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” But there is something even better, greater and deeper than happiness. Happiness is dependent on what happens; our circumstances. Joy is far deeper and is not so dependent on our outward circumstances. It is a blessing from God.” To paraphrase a bit Joy comes from an encounter with Jesus Christ.
The point of this differentiation between happiness and Joy is that happiness is fleeting. it is tied to people and situations. People can be taken away or disappoint us. Wealth can vanish. Health is also tenuous. All of the things we think can make us happy can go away in a flash. The other point that is true is that external things will never truly make us happy. True happiness comes from within and I suspect this type of happiness is just another form of Joy. Our belief and faith in Christ and his gift of salvation for us and those we love can never be taken away and if you truly buy into this no matter what happens in your life you will still have Joy in your heart.
All suffering is temporary. It may not feel like it at the time but just like the external forms of happiness this oppression from the world will eventually cease. When life deals you setbacks it is important to lean into the Lord and to listen. Wisdom can be gained from the pain we experience. God does not cause our pain but he can help us to learn from it so that we can live our lives in obedience to his will. I told my friend “God loves you and wants good things for you but true happiness is not going to come from outside people or situations. It will come from God and it will start in your heart and radiate out.” I wish I understood this better when Adam was alive because I know it was a big part of his struggle. He was too young to understand this and I wish I had recognized that this was something he needed to hear.