At work, Laura said something about studying the difference between happiness and joy. And that made me realize that I have been putting way too much stock in happiness (or lack thereof) lately.
I am tired of being in one place. I want to travel, see new things, and have new adventures. I want some relationships to deepen, but they aren't. I don't care about others, and they are. I want a friend who chooses me, who needs me most. I'm tired of wanting that kind of relationship with someone whose first priority is family or husband or boyfriend.
I have let my unhappiness affect my spiritual life. And now that things are turning up (Mongolia! Not to mention a sudden spat of new friends and reunited old friends), I worry that I will now let my happiness dictate my relationship with God. It will be better, yes. Until the next time I get unhappy.
How do I break out of this cycle? How do I find joy? How do I live in joy instead of happiness? How do I find contentment in God alone?
I have a feeing the answer is some crappy "keep living and experiencing life!" absurd but true statement. But I don't want to wait. I want to be content now. I want to glorify God now. Why should He wait for me to get my act together?
"The pain that you feel, You only can heal;By living. You have to go on living,So one of us is living" ~~Spike
ReplyDeleteThat is what I thought of....:)
Abe Lincoln once said "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". He had a terrible life, lost his mother at a young age, lost two congressional elections, lost three children (of four) before they reached adulthood, had a terribly depressed and mentally ill wife. Yet he made this statement. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said that sometimes happy isn’t about being happy, but choosing not to be unhappy. Easy words to say, very, very hard to do.
How do you find joy instead of happiness? I think joy is just an elevated state of happiness, so maybe what you want is a more intense happiness and not joy instead of it. Is it God's responsibility to give you joy? Is God waiting for you to get your act together? I really don't think so. God has all the time in eternity, your time here is much more limited. You are the one that is responsible for your joy.
"This is the day that God has made, rejoice and be glad in it".
Oh man, Spike has such wisdom. He is right.
ReplyDelete"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds"(James 1:2). Happiness is circumstantial, in the moment. James is not saying to have this kind of circumstantial happiness. He’s saying something very different. Happiness is fleeting.
ReplyDeleteJoy is a supernatural delight. Joy comes from God. You don’t have it in yourself to be joyful. When James says, “Consider it pure joy,” he’s telling you, “Reach out to God. Get God’s heart in this matter.” Joy is a supernatural delight in the person, purposes, and people of God. To know the Lord—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge—makes happiness look like a joke. Joy is a supernatural delight in the person of God.What about the purposes of God? Joy comes from understanding that there’s something bigger than me going on here—something so far beyond me. God has a purpose, and I’m going to find a way to trust him even though I’m not seeing it right now.
And joy is a supernatural delight in the people of God. There’s just something awesome about being together, isn’t there? When we open our lives to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, what we experience is unlike anything else. That’s why James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers.” Only Christians understand this; only a follower of Christ would ever consider a trial joy. If you encounter a trial, and you’re not a believer, you can try to be happy about it, but it will be fleeting.
C~ The "Whovian"
C the Whovian (which I will now call you always), I completely agree. That's why I feel the best thing I could do is really study who God is. If I understood his majesty, I think everything else would fall into place. But do I seriously devote time to that? No. Because I'm willfully stupid.
ReplyDelete