Joy Versus Happiness

I have heard it said that Christians are joyful, but not always happy. I always had a hard time understanding that, making it compute in my brain. Now, though, I think I get it.

For many years, I spent my time searching for that which would make me happy. Whether drinking in bars, searching for companionship, fighting, crying, screaming, or whatever it took for those precious few moments where I could alleviate the pain that permeated my whole being, those few minutes never lasted, never stayed long enough to satisfy that hunger.

The things that we allow to fester in our deepest and darkest recesses are the very things that prevent happiness from lingering. The evil that dwells in us all, that overcomes the light that is around us and sinks us into deeper despair, is the weight around our necks.

Since I came to know Christ as my Savior, I have been filled with a joy that is indescribable. It is the light that drove the darkness from me. And it made me happy. Happiness is fleeting, though, and an emotion that is tied directly to our physical needs and desires. Joy is that which fills us with anticipation at what we have to look forward to, what God has promised to deliver us to. Joy is a permanent thing.

Now, here is the point where I would become confused: How can I be joyful, yet so unhappy at the same time? Why is it that God does not make us happy, too? Happiness is a fleeting moment in time, a possession of the flesh, a thing of this world. 

1 John 2:15-1 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

While we are here, in this world, all sorts of things will attack our senses and sensibilities, including the desires of our flesh. When we can set those aside and strive for the perfect joy that is in Christ, we can become filled with the Holy Spirit, bringing about that joy:

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

To make it simple for my finite brain to understand, happiness is fleeting, but joy is eternal. C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”  I believe that to be true, in fact, I now know it to be so.

Even today, with my faith being strengthened daily, with God showing me amazing things, and with a steady flow of Christ in my veins, I am sometimes unhappy. I am burdened with business, family, social, economic, and selfish concerns. But even without happiness, I am joyful.

I have learned that joy is different from happiness on each of my trips to Haiti. I have seen people with absolutely nothing: food, clothing, shelter. I have seen people sickened by disease and suffering from malnutrition. I have seen a nation gripped by governmental abuse, and by evil being publicly lauded.

But, I have also seen a people filled with joy. I have watched, and participated with them, as they sang praises and worshipped in a manner we could all take a lesson from, with unrestrained tears of thanks for their eternal salvation, and for the peace that God has brought to their hearts.

So joy is not happiness. But happiness, thankfully, is not what Christ has promised us. I now believe that joy is all of the things that He has given to me, and all that is yet to come. It is the expectation of being at His feet one day to claim all of the glorious promises that He has already made known, and those that I can only wait for. I am thankful that my joy is not a product of any happiness I may gather in this life, but a gift that was freely given to me when I accepted my salvation in the Lord Jesus. So, yes, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven,” and it is something that I may claim right now, no matter my circumstances at any moment.