“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” is a popular phrase in the Declaration of Independence written by our forefathers who founded the United States of America United States of America
These thoughts were spurred on by our small group Bible study last night. We were talking about joy in our lives and what robs us of that joy. As I woke up this morning I began to think about the Declaration of Independence. Hum, why would I think about that this morning? Funny thing is, we are all trying to declare independence when we should actually be declaring dependence on our Lord and Savior. We can pursue happiness in the material since but we will never be satisfied if we do not have a relationship with Him.
As I looked up scriptures for the word “happy” I only found four.
Psalm 68:3 “But may they righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.”
Proverbs “A happy heart makes a face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.
Ecclesiastes “I know that there is nothing better than for men to be happy and to do good while they live.”
James “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”
When I looked up the word joy, I found 34 verses and another three verses with the word joyful. I then looked up both words in the English dictionary and found very similar definitions. I am not a scholar of Hebrew and I am not even going to go there today but I have to wonder if they have two different words for “joy” and “happy”. If there are any Hebrew scholars out there or anyone that knows anything about the Hebrew language, I would appreciate it if you could comment back on this). I tend to think the English language has made those words synonymous when maybe they shouldn’t be. I believe sometimes I can be joyful without necessarily being happy and I can have joy without happiness. When I think of someone who is happy, it is a feeling, they are giggly, cheery, and do not really want or need anything to change in their lives. But, joy does not come from the circumstances of life, joy comes from the Lord. Psalm 4: 6 – 7 “Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’ (7)You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” The abundance of grain and new wine is a circumstance and we feel happy when we have access to it but the Lord IS our source of joy and we have access to Him at all times. It does not take money or material things to produce the Lord, HE IS. He is always there, it is up to us to seek Him.
Another example of joy in not so good of circumstances can be found in James 1:2-3 “Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, (3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” I really don’t think James is saying that we need to be jumping up and down and be giggly about our trials but he is telling us to be joyful because God is doing a work in us and that He will see us through. I hope today that as you seek Him that you will find something much greater than happiness but that you will pursue the Lord and will find the joy of Him. Nehemiah instructs the people in Nehemiah “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.” Circumstances come and go, thus happiness will come and go but the joy of the Lord will provide strength in all of those times. Without Him you can only have happiness for a time but with Him you can have joy forever. Seek that joy today through Him who saved you.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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