Happiness VS. Joy

     It has been WAY too long since I have blogged! I promise to post more faithfully! Between getting married, working a full time job and jumping into a new ministry with my husband (I am still getting used to saying that!) we have been SUPER busy! In the next week I will be working on a blog post about all our wedding/honeymoon/summer adventures with pictures included to update everyone!

     I had never given much thought to the words "joy" and "happiness" before until I was forced to think and meditate on those words about a week ago. I have been reading through a book called The Fruitful Wife by Hayley DiMarco and this book dissects the Bible verse Galatians 5:22-23 ("The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.") And Mrs. Hayley took a whole chapter to talk about joy and happiness. Also, last Sunday my husband preached on joy. So of course these two words have been on my mind a lot this week.

     When I think of happiness I think of my wedding day or laying on the beach or drinking a cup of coffee on a breezy porch. It is a good feeling, but that feeling never seems to stay for very long. The wedding day ends, I end up burnt on that beautiful beach and then the dogs start barking next door as i try to sip my coffee peacefully. You see, happiness is dependent on good circumstances. Happiness can not honestly be realized in the midst of sadness or hurt. That is why no one is always super happy, singing songs all day long. Everyone experiences trials and tough times.

      Joy on the other hand is totally dependent on the perfect nature of The Creator. The awesome thing about this is that our Lord NEVER changes. He stays the same forever and ever unlike the ever changing circumstances of our happiness. Joy coming from the Holy Spirit, who lives in us as Christians, can withstand all sorrow, doubt, pain we may experience. Joy is found in the knowledge that we are children of The One True King, that The Creator of the Universe showed us grace and mercy even when we did not deserve it! That even when everything seems to be going totally wrong, we know that God has it TOTALLY in control and in the palm of His hands. Knowing that we have a never ending, unshakable relationship with Jesus is true joy. Kay Warren said it best ----> "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of ALL details of my life; the quiet confidence that ultimately ... everything is going to be okay; and the determined choice to praise God in ALL things."

     Being human and all, joy just is not something that comes naturally to us. Each day we must choose Jesus and the joy that that He brings. My challenge to you is this: Everyday for a week, as soon as you wake up, pray:

"Today I choose You Jesus, even if everything goes wrong, I choose to be joyful in You."