“Happen”ness or Happiness…. It’s your CHOICE.
If you’re happy and you know it… Clap your hands, stomp your feet… If you’re happy and you know it then your FACE will surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it…. Now, you will be singing this all day! I used to sing this song as a little girl all the time. If you’re happy and you know IT… then your face will surely show IT. If you know IT… show IT! If you KNOW that you are a child of God and you serve the King of Kings, SHOW IT! Your JOY should be contagious, but your “not so joyful attitudes” can be as well. I love how the Webster dictionary defines Joy. It says, Joy is a “source or cause of delight.” Now, that’s good! Joy does not come from your circumstances… It comes from your SOURCE! This is the part we must get. Who or what is your source? Is your source for JOY, the fact that things are going well, that you are in good health, that your bills are paid…? That can all change in a matter of minutes. What does not change is the faithfulness and love of Jesus Christ. That’s the difference between “HAPPEN”ness and Happiness. If your Joy is determined by what “HAPPENS” in your life, then you will constantly be living on an emotional roller coaster. But if your JOY is determined by the promise of God’s love, faithfulness and the fact that you are a child of God, even when life “happens”, which it will, our JOY still rests in the one who gave his life for us. Let’s read that definition again, Joy is a “source or cause of delight.” So, your JOY, your trust in Jesus Christ, should be your source of delight! Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our JOY and PEACE will overflow as we trust in him! This causes something on our part… that little word “as” is a verb. We must constantly trust in him… It’s a daily decision! And as we “Choose” to trust him, our JOY and Peace will overflow! John 15:11(NIV) says, “ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” God does not want our JOY and peace to be controlled by our circumstances… He wants to be our SOURCE! One of my favorite stories in the bible is in Luke 8:42-47 (ESV). Here we read about the woman with the issue of blood…
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
I love this woman! She was determined. Now, understand, she had every reason, to be at home, depressed and caught up in the fact that she has been struggling to find answers and relief from her circumstance. She knew if she could just get into the presence of Jesus, things would change! She had to “Push past her PRESENT into HIS PRESENCE”! She had to decide that her circumstance, her present, would not keep her from HIS PRESENCE!
Psalm 71:23, says, "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you—I whom you have delivered.
I will shout for JOY when I sing your praise. Our Joy will come from our praise… our praise comes from WHO he is, not where we are! Your circumstance cannot determine your praise… Praise through it ALL!
We must push past our “present” into HIS PRESENCE!
I have heard people say JOY is… Jesus, Others then You.
I prefer to say… JOY is… Choosing “Jesus Over YOURSELF”
or in Wendy’s words…”Choosing Jesus over Yo’Self”
It’s a daily choice…
We must continuously be…
Choosing his PRESENCE over our PRESENT
Choosing his GLORY over our COMFORT
Choosing his WILL over our WANT
So, Choose JOY today! Let the promise that you are a Child of God be the “SOURCE” of your delight! Life is going to “Happen” and we will all have circumstances that will not be “happy” but choosing JOY even through those times, means choosing to trust in the one whose “PRESENCE” can change it all.
