Joy vs. Happiness

Learning to Embrace the Gifts

Psalm 28: 6-7

May the Lord be praised, for He has heard the sound of my pleading. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song.

Have there been times when you have pleaded and pleaded with the Lord about something you wanted to have or wanted to go away? You’ve asked, you’ve prayed, you’ve fasted, you’ve praised, you’ve done everything you can think of... but there was no answer. No results. No resolution. No “answer to prayer.” Only crickets.

But then suddenly, like a bolt of lightning that came from nowhere, BAMM!! The answer to your pleas and pleadings came forward from the ethers. And the answer was bigger, broader, more successful, more magnificent than you could have possibly imagined.

That comes through FAITH – the absolute knowing that what you have petitioned for, you have already received. When that Big Moment comes forth, the next most important step is PRAISE. And the ability to really rejoice and really praise the Lord comes from the joy placed in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

The joy of the Lord is knowing He is our strength and knowing there is nothing we can do without Him. Oh, we can accomplish human goals and even have a moniker of success in our endeavors. But when we stand on His Word as our strength and our shield, and trust Him will all our heart...this is when our pleadings are heard and when we are helped and comforted.

Joy vs Happiness

Joy is ever-present in our mind, heart, and soul because it comes from the Holy Spirit. Joy isn’t tied to external events. Joy doesn’t need a smile in order to exist. That’s why we can know the joy of the Lord in difficult situations, uncertain circumstances, and while wading through grief. We choose to embrace joy. We can have more joy by developing our relationship with Jesus.

In comparison, happiness is a feeling that is associated with our life circumstances and professional outcomes. When happiness is present, it’s larger than life. Nothing feels better than extreme, over-the-top happiness. But happiness is fickle. It can be present for weeks on end, and it can be gone in an instant. Interestingly, you can experience happiness in a situation but not feel joy, as in the expression, “The win was empty; it had no meaning.”

Joy blooms through connection with God. It’s what He wants with us: an unwavering, faith-filled, commitment to Him by spending time His Word.  When you live for the Kingdom, worshiping the Lord in all that you do, it brings freedom and continual joy, no matter what is happening around you.

In Galatians 5:22 we read,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.”

Note that JOY is a fruit of the Spirit; happiness is not. Happiness is a choice; it is circumstantial. Joy is a constant; it is not circumstantial.

In vs Of

To experience the joy of the Lord, we have to have the faith OF God, and the trust OF Christ, and the joy OF the Holy Spirit.

This is different than having faith IN God, having trust IN Christ and experiencing joy FROM the Holy spirit.

Pause for a moment. Ponder these differences in your mind and your heart; feel the differences in your spirit:

• Having faith IN God is a commitment; for some, it can be a superficial saying.

  • Having the faith OF God is expansive, endless, all knowing, all encompassing.

• Trusting IN Christ, can be sincere – or it can also be coupled with doubt, as in, “I trust in Christ but...” or “trust but verify.”

  • Having the trust OF Christ is an internal knowing that never waffles. It’s immovable. It is absolute. Jesus always knew who He was and why He was here. He trusted His Father would never fail Him. His trust was complete. This is the trust OF Christ.

• Experiencing joy FROM the Holy Spirit can be perceived as temporary, a short-term or transient event, mostly because we perceive that JOY and HAPPY are synonyms. When you study the differences, they are not.

  • When we embrace joy OF the Holy Spirit, it is a permanent, transformative gift. It is a gift that never fades and is never diminished by external circumstances, joy becomes solid; it is a real and tangible way to Be. It is being as joyful as Spirit is!

We need to learn to live in the joy OF the Holy Spirit, through having the faith OF God and embracing the trust OF Jesus. Hallelujah and Amen!

Today’s Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we lift our heart and rejoice! We praise You with our songs. Let us have Your faith, Your trust, Your joy in every area of our life. May we lean on this understanding in our decision making, our actions, our behaviors, and our communications with others. We thank you for being the rock and the foundation of our life. As we practice daily to walk in this type of relationship with You, show us more; teach us more. May we always feel the depths of the love you have with us as we embrace the meaning of true joy. We ask for these things, or better things that You may have in store for our life. In Jesus’ blessed name, Amen.

Each Saturday, I release a substack called “Eye on the Evidence.” You can find it here. You can also find out more about my podcasts, supplements and apparel by going to DrTenpenny.com