Happiness versus Joy

By:  Dale Weckbacher

James 1:2-5

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

NKJV

This passage of scripture used to bother me, as I am sure it does many who read it.  It seems cruel for scripture to tell us to find joy in the middle of trials.  However, it goes on to tell us why we can find joy for the trials in our lives serve to make our faith stronger and help us develop patience.  The problem is that we mistake happiness for joy. 

Leah was happy in Genesis 30:13 for Zilpah had just borne Jacob a second son, Asher.  Moses declared in Deuteronomy 33:29 that Israel was happy for The Lord had saved them.  Happiness also comes when we trust in the Lord (Proverbs 16:20).

Happiness is the result of something good happening in our lives as it was with Leah.  We are also happy when God does something momentous in our lives such as when we He saves us from our sins.  We also experience happiness when we place our trust in the Lord. 

Joy however is much deeper than happiness.  As a believer in Jesus as my Messiah, I can have joy knowing that I have eternal life and that no matter what happens in my life, it will work out for my good (Romans 8:28).  This Joy of the Lord is the strength that gets us through the sorrowful or troublesome times in life (Nehemiah 8:10). 

However, one of the greatest joys we as believers have is that the Lord is coming back (Acts 1:11).  We read the news and it seems the world around us is falling apart.  There is a breakout of Ebola that some estimate may kill 5 million people and go global.  (1)  ISIS is committing brutal beheadings and creating fear by posting them on the Internet in an effort to create terror.  (2)  David Haines the latest victim of a brutal beheading was working as an aid worker.  Apparently, the hatred of ISIS is so deep that they are not interested in any aid from the outside. 

Domestically, the southern border of the United States is being inundated by an influx of immigrants from Central and South America.  This influx of illegals threatens to place a strain on already strained entitlement programs and creates competition for a shrinking number of jobs.  Evidence for this is seen in a record 20% of households receiving food stamps in 2013 (3) and the labor participation rate, which measures the percentage of the population working, continuing to decline.  (4)  These statistics only promise to get worse with the continued influx of illegals into the country. 

However, as shocking and surprising these statistics may appear, God is not surprised and knew these things would occur.  Therefore, I can have joy in knowing that my God will take care of me and that he will return to straighten out everything.  However, some may rightfully argue, Christians have been telling of the return of Christ for decades and nothing has happened.  However, these sceptics must understand that God is a merciful and gracious God and is waiting for everyone, including them, to have a chance to accept Jesus as their savior so they can have the joy of the Lord in their hearts too (2 Peter 3:8-9). 

Since none of us knows the exact time of the Lords return, the wisest thing for anyone to do is be ready and when we do, we receive the added benefit of the Joy of the Lord to strengthen us during these challenging times.  To insure you are ready for the Lords return and to experience joy in these troubling times, I urge you to pray the following prayer.

Dear Lord, I know I have sinned.  I know that the wages of sin is death but I also know that you came to earth and died on the cross.  You were buried in the grave for three days and on the third day You arose from the dead.  I ask you to come into my heart and I make you Lord of my life, Amen. 

You are now ready for the Lord’s return and even though the problems of this world and even our personal problems may still exist, we now have an eternal hope of eternal life and the return of Jesus to straighten out what is wrong with this world.  You now have the Joy of the Lord, which is so deep that even when unhappy times come, you can experience joy, which is what James was writing about in James 1:3.  We also now have a miracle working God on our side who has the power to bring solutions to our problems and protection from what is going on in our world. 

My prayer is that your walk with the Lord will be joyous and that your joy would grow as you learn more about your new Lord.  I encourage you to begin studying the Bible for it is Gods message to us and how we learn more about Him.  I also encourage you to find a local church that teaches the Bible so you can learn more and develop friendships with others who believe as you now do.

May God bless everyone reading this. 

1. Martel, Frances. AS OBAMA SENDS TROOPS TO FIGHT EBOLA, EXPERT SAYS 'FIVE MILLION COULD DIE'. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart News, September 16, 2014. [Cited: September 16, 2014.] http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/16/As-Obama-Sends-Troops-to-Fight-Ebola-Liberian-Newspaper-Declares-The-Fight-is-Lost.

2. Adams, Sam. David Haines beheading: Stars lead Twitter outrage over murder of British aid worker by ISIS. www.mirror.co.uk. [Online] Mirror, September 14, 2014. [Cited: September 16, 2014.] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-haines-beheading-stars-lead-4257850.

3. Meyer, Ali. Record 20% of Households on Food Stamps in 2013. cnsnews.com. [Online] CNS News, January 21, 2014. [Cited: September 16, 2014.] http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/record-20-households-food-stamps-2013.

4. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate. research.stlouisfed.org. [Online] Federal Reserve Bank, August 2014. [Cited: September 16, 2014.] http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CIVPART/.