Perhaps you have heard the story of the distraught, sad man who went looking for help. He found a local pastor who was willing to sit down and listen. His sadness and pain was obvious as he unloaded his sadness. The pastor just listened. After some time he realized this man needed a good dose of laughter. So he told the man, “You need to laugh and relax. I hear there is a well-known comedian in town who is really great at making people laugh. I suggest you go hear him.”
After a moment of silence, the man said, “I am that comedian.”
I’ve heard that story several ways, I suspect you may have. Comedian. Clown. Entertainer. Any way you shake it, it says the same thing.
But here is a greater truth: Happiness does not equal joy. They are two separate entities, totally devoid of each other in reality. Happiness is dependent on circumstances; joy is in spite of your circumstances. If things are going well-financially, socially, family, job-happiness abounds. But have a glitch in one of them and happiness is like a bird let out of a cage.
Joy? It’s different. All chaos can be breaking out around us. Loss of job. Financial downturn. Wayward child. Fickle friends. But at the core is joy. It’s not because you are happy those things are happening to you. Joy comes-and is determined by-what is at the core of your being. Perhaps a better word is not what but WHOM. The person who follows Christ may not like what is happening; may struggle with pain to nth degree; but that person knows WHO controls it all. That brings joy in spite of the circumstances, amidst the pain. That is why James can write: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (1:2) (ESV)
Seek joy not happiness. Happiness is fleeting; joy is permanent.