Solomon, after having experienced, declared everything in life to be vanity and chasing after the wind. Everyone wants to live a happy and a blessed life here on earth but in a day, we face situations that bring joy and the next moment sadness and pain. Yet, there are many who live joyfully even while facing very difficult situations. God desires only goodness for us but the state of turmoil on the earth, due to the forces of darkness and evil, suffering come.
Difference between happiness and joy – Happiness is a feeling and feelings are affected by the circumstances, which keep changing. Since there are forces of evil and darkness all around us, we always face hurdles in our life. Also, our actions are like a stone thrown into a pond, sending ripples that touch every area of the pond. Every word that we speak and our every work releases energy into the world, affecting various lives. Many results of our deeds, we will probably never know but there is also a rebounding action that affects us. Thus, trying to always be happy is difficult, for the loss of a loved one or words of someone dear to us, hurt and cause pain and sadness. This is more so for people who live alone physically or emotionally and spiritually.
The very first Psalm in the very first verse, identifies a person who is blessed and the Hebrew word used is ‘esher’. It is not about external circumstances only but includes the inner being of an individual who is at peace. The Greek word ‘makarios’ used in the Beatitudes by the Saviour Lord is also translated as ‘blessed’. This is the result of going straight, in a close relationship with God and following His Word to live according to His commands. Apostle Paul has commanded all believers to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice’ (Philippians 4:4). The Greek word ‘chara’ is used to define joy or be glad and is about the inner joy and delight, usually in response to God’s grace and goodness towards us revealed in His Son.
Joy is expressed in celebrations, victories and festivals by the heathen but for a believer it erupts from the spiritual reality of God’s promises. This is connected to ‘charis’, the grace of God and this word is also connected to charisma and character. On the other hand, happiness comes from desires fulfilled, pleasure and self-beneficial acts while joy is from heavenly pursuits. That is why our level of happiness goes up and down depending on the prevailing situations around us. The strength of our relationship with God is from God who is always with us, though we may not feel His presence with us. Everyone has different values and the way of understanding any given situation and thus reacts differently. But a believer is governed by the Word of God and reacts in an expected standard way. To be joyful in itself is our service of God and an expression of our faith. We recognise why we are where we are and we rejoice in praising God.
Our focus on God makes us realize that we are a small part in the whole universe but on this smallness in us is the focus and filling of the ray of light from heaven above. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us helps us to experience the love of God, who sent His Son to become one like us to experience all that we face and much more. He underwent all the suffering and the pain of rejection and being lonely, the extreme of that being on the cross. Everyone, except a few, ‘who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads’ (Matthew 27:39-42). One of the two criminals crucified with Him also kept on heckling Him. The Chief Priests, the scribes and the elders mocked Him saying, ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israelites, let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe Him’. This was the finale of the temptation that started after His baptism, when the devil asked Him to jump from the Temple height to prove His credentials as the Son of God (Matthew 4:6). When our sins were heaped on Him and the darkness was over all the land, the Father in heaven was so grieved by our sins, that He also turned His face from His Beloved Son.
Lord Jesus’ prayer in the Gethsemane Park for removal of the cup of God’s wrath was over the pain of this isolation and separation from God, the Father. In that painful loneliness, Lord Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:46). Many times, in our loneliness we feel as if even God has abandoned us filling us with deep sadness.
On the other hand, joy being a state of mind, we can remain joyful in any situation for we know that our Lord has promised us, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5). Like our Lord, when we start living in that close relationship with The Father in heaven, we can be rest assured that we will never be alone.
Even when we turn away from Him, He will come looking for that one lost sheep, leaving the other ninety-nine (Luke 15:4-5). ‘And when He has found it, He lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing’. When we believe the truth of Scripture, we are filled with confidence and joy at being chosen by such a wonderful and loving god to be His followers.
Why does a believer suffer? Happiness is not a destination but a walk in a particular direction of faith. We are reminded of a great number of people of faith who suffered grievously yet remained joyful. We are told about a ‘great cloud of witnesses’ and urged to ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us’) Hebrews 12:1). Those who have gone before us had much difficult times, for we have many facilities that make life easy. The day each one of us was born, God declared to the world that it cannot exist without you. We live in a world where everyone wants to be heard and there is a great noise around us and much of it is absolute nonsense. We must learn to look inward on your own personality and character, your talents and passions to work out your purpose in life. Then our journey has a task and every hurdle along the way becomes a stepping stone to move higher.
We must realise that it is more important to live a purposeful life than only a happy life. There are two ways to live life; first, finding ways to have pleasure and reduce discomfort. Such a person looks for the ways that this world can serve him. The second is to find and fulfil your purpose for life and such a man lives as a partner with God to make a difference in this world. All of us have been given a certain area of influence, from our family and dear ones, to wherever we work and live. The second Great Commandment from Lord Jesus is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31). Then the sphere of our joy and happiness expands outward to include many others. It is then that we find joy in the happiness of others also. True joy is the result of daily realisation of having caused some change for the better in someone’s life around us. Such joy then endures forever and urges us to do better each day.
Hurdles in being joyful – There are many barriers to this, between people, within us to stop or prevent us from doing good, barriers due to our inherent limitations of being human and barriers created by us in our minds. But our desire for joy breaks down all barriers and the Holy Spirit empowers us to move forward. In this manner we keep increasing in our joy, for we practice to be joyful by our good deeds and bringing happiness into someone else’s life. We sow happiness in others to reap it in our lives to keep increasing in it step by little step. After a difficult and grief filled event, we do not immediately get filled with joy but since the fire is already inside, it becomes easy for us to reignite it.
Our heart has both joy and crying. Some have one side heavy and start crying at the smallest of things while others find moments of joy in like manner, even in difficult times. Real joy is in maintaining the balance by not ignoring the one but feeling everything intensely and still coming out thanking God for His love.
Lord Jesus revealed to us the importance of each individual before God – He said, ‘I say to you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents’ (Luke 15:10). Our Lord revealed to Apostle John, one aspect of the worship of God. The four living creatures, the angels around God’s throne, ‘do not rest day or night, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come’ (Revelation 4:8). This song becomes louder at the repentance of a sinner on the earth for they see joy on the face of God. Our good works in the overflowing love of God in us, affect others and bring joy to our Father in heaven. His joy brings joy to us, for His blessings keep falling over us.
True joy in life comes from connection; connection to God and in deep trust in His presence in every situation. Connection to purpose by living in the moment and doing our best to make it count. Connection to our souls and the spirit, which carry the Divine light and is always joyful. Then we always rejoice in the Lord as Apostle Paul has taught us.
The way to be filled and remain joyful – The first thing that sin brought into the world was loss of peace and joy and Adam and Eve hid from the loving God (Genesis 3:8). As a result, we have to make efforts to build joy in us and in our lives in a gradual manner, one step at a time. This is about tuning ourselves into this state through deliberate effort.
The steps that we take in this cover all aspects of life. First, allow yourself to feel the joy and grief alike, all types of emotions. A boy is told from his early childhood, men do not cry and he is thus made to suffer everything alone. By expressing our real feelings without shame, allows us to let light come in through the help of others. We need to accept that mood changes over remembering an old hurt are normal and not a sign of weakness. Do not fight that, by trying to suppress that, and allow it to flow out. In this manner we deny the forces of evil around us to gain an upper hand in our grief and pain.
Second, study, remember specific promises of God and meditate upon that to understand and live in the light. The Word of God is ‘lamp to my feet and light to my path’ for The Scripture is the guide for us to live in the world (Psalm 119:105). The Ten Commandments have been the cornerstone to guide all societies, the world over. God has promised various blessings to all the people of the earth and some are conditional. Lord Jesus taught in the beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God’ (Matthew 5:9). All believers are children of God and we become His favourites when we reach out to others to bring them into peace with God to be filled with His peace.
Apostle Paul identified the weapons that a believer has received from God and the only weapon of attack is ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God’ (Ephesians 6:17). The devil’s attacks were countered very effectively by the Saviour Lord using the ‘sword’. We cannot start searching out the specific Scripture verse to counter the devil’s attack on our minds/thoughts; hearts/desires and the body through various physical ailments. The ‘sword’ must be ready in our minds to be pulled out to counter the lies of the devil.
Third, be kind to others. Nothing brings more joy to the heart, than helping someone in trouble and pain/grief. Apostle Paul has shown us the way to live whereby the indwelling Holy Spirit would not be grieved by our actions (Ephesians 4:31-32). He advises, ‘let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you’. Instead of this we are to be ‘kind to one another, tender-hearted’. After the death of my wife, my sister who lives in Sydney in Australia called me every day for one full year to help me overcome the pain, encouraging me with loving words. She spoke to my daughters also often during those days and we will never forget that. Kindness expands the heart and that is the way we bring light into someone’s life and get filled with joy.
Four, strengthen your relationship with others – Avoid complainers and gossips but regularly meet others who are loving and cheerful. Schedule meetings with them for tea, coffee or a snack and share each-others joyful moments. Early in married life develop a friendly relationship with your spouse. Have a daily chat with her to understand the issues that she would like to talk to you about.
Five, practice gratitude – First and foremost is to be thankful to God for all that He has done for us and continues to do (Psalm 100:4). Count your blessings and you will not be focused on your problems. Being thankful does not remove pain but it definitely softens it. In our culture where everything is taken as a right, it becomes difficult to be thankful, even to God, and we need to practice this. Being grateful changes our view about life and even in the hardest climb in life of adversity, we can see a ray of light in the darkness. A harsh king sentenced his cook to be tied to a pole in neck-deep water throughout the night in very cold weather. The cook suffered greatly but survived the ordeal. On being asked the secret of survival, he told that on a small hill not far away a lamp was kept burning by someone. He focused on that small light in the distance and imagined its heat warming him in the cold. Gratitude is not to ignore the troubles but recognizing that even in difficult times, a ray of hope is there. We should try and be that ray of light in someone else’s life.
Joyful living is not like putting on a light switch but a gradual journey. There will be slip ups but the trick is to get up and keep moving forward, though it may feel hard. Every small act of kindness to others and done by someone to you must be cherished, with every prayer and every moment in God’s presence will always transform us to live a joyful life.
A joyful life is about forgetting the old after learning your lessons from that and look forward to future blessings in faith. It is about shedding the darkness from within and moving forward, for God definitely has a great plan for each of His children. This is not about a single huge jump forward but a step-by-step progression through transformation from within by submitting to the indwelling Holy Spirit. The peace that our Lord has given to us, His peace, helps in this journey of faith!
