anotherkindofdrew blog

I think it is a fight within us all; joy vs. happiness.

Last night I was talking to my dear friend Michele when we got into the conversation of joy vs. happiness. Now, as God would have it, this is an issue I have been dealing with for a couple of weeks now. Which is better? Joy or happiness? Are they the same? How are they different?

The word “happiness” derives from the same root as our word “happenstance” or “happen” or “mishap,” all of which denote something out of our control. There used to be a popular bumper sticker that said, “S*@t Happens.” I guess it does just “happen.” And, if you follow that line of reasoning, then happiness is probably based upon what’s happening.  Happy things happen … and then you’re happy. Poopie stuff happens and you are poopy.

But joy is something else entirely.

And then if you’re talking about the “joy of the Lord,” then it isn’t only something different, it’s an entirely separate realm of experience.  Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit’s ability to grow fruit in our lives isn’t dependent on happy circumstances, per se. In fact I think that only through times of great pain and misunderstanding and lack of communication have I truly learned two of the other fruits: patience and peace. I think a great part of this argument is based on the notion that joy is a fruit of the Spirit and so anyone who has the Holy Spirit within them will have joy because the fruit will just grow naturally or organically. If a person outside of the Spirit doesn’t see “joy” in our lives then they easily assume that we don’t have joy we don’t have the Holy Spirit within us and if we don’t have the Holy Spirit we aren’t true believers. Upon further examination though I realized that this precept is based on the socially acceptable definition of “happiness” and not “joy.” There have been times in my life (almost daily, I reckon) that I am not happy. Sometimes I am angry, bitter, defensive, jealous and calous. Certainly none of those can be confused with happy. But that does not stop me from having joy. In fact, through these times the one thing I don’t seem to lose is joy. Joy in knowing that somehow, someway, somewhere God would work all this junk I was living with for good.  Joy to know that even if life continued on just as badly as it was right then for the rest of my time on this polluted planet, this life isn’t the “end” of the story.

The Bible says that for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross.  I don’t think Jesus was “happy” being scorned and tortured and enduring a painful, cruel death.  But did Jesus have joy in the midst of it all?  I count on it. He had joy knowing that His sacrifice would work the ultimate good in humanity.  Joy to know that this life isn’t all there is.  Joy to have accomplished what He’d been sent to do.

Now this is not a topic I can speak as an expert on. I am still in the midst of discovery myself. However, I know that I would rather have joy than happiness any day. Joy lasts even in the midst of the trials of life.  Joy isn’t dependent on circumstances.  Joy is strength.  Joy is internal and joy is eternal. I may struggle. I may have dreams be destroyed and I may go broke. I may be homeless and I may be barefoot. I might not always smile and I might not always laugh. But on a deeper, soul-level, there is joy in my heart and joy in my spirit.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.