Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

It is amazing how things from our childhood stick with us all the way up through adolescence and into young adulthood. For the sake of our readers that may not recognize the reference made in the title, let me explain. When I was a kid, there was a show called “Ren & Stimpy,” that came on Nickelodeon. The title of this post reflects the title of a song that originated in that show. Stimpy invented a helmet that would transform the wearer into a person driven only by happiness. He used his invention to turn the ordinarily grouchy and downtrodden Ren into a spastically joyful lunatic. This atmosphere spawned the song and subsequently destroyed a large portion of their house. We are not lucky enough to have helmets that cause us to break into instantaneous happiness, but we do have a God that can help us find that place without one.

Now I know that happiness and joy are two different states of mind, and I won’t get in to the literal or grammatical implications of either. For the sake of today’s post, let’s just treat them as very close cousins. When one becomes a Christian, God makes Himself available for a whole variety requests. Happiness and joy are two of the things that God offers us. I do not hold to the belief that once we’re saved everything will be happy. I actually dislike “Happy Jesus” theology, and I will definitely discuss that at a later time. I do believe that God wants us to be generally happy, but I also believe that God allows us to go through difficult times to allow us the ability to grow. And in these times, happiness and joy are choices that we have to make.

I have found in my personal life that pessimism is much stronger than optimism. That might not be true for everyone, but humans do share an attraction to pessimism. It’s in our nature. The choice to remain happy and joyful is a much harder one when things are going poorly. That’s where God’s availability becomes a true asset. He wants us to rely on His strength to get through the rough patches, not our own.

God’s power is greater than anything in this world. And if we are truly honest with ourselves, the reason most of us give up happiness and joy is because we try to use our lesser power to overcome these obstacles alone. It is very easy to come upon the proverbial mountain of trouble and become discouraged. We mire ourselves down with trying to find a way out of the situation. We try to tunnel under the mountain. We try to go around the mountain entirely. We even try to tackle the job of climbing over the top of our troubles sometimes. Occasionally we might find our way to the other side. But if we try to do it alone, we miss one of the easiest options. We could allow God to lead us.

God knows the best routes through our problems. He knows the easiest and least rocky paths. He has a whole array of gifts to give us that can help us through problems. And sometimes, God might simply remove the mountain altogether. He can do that. He’s God. This doesn’t mean that our trek will be perfectly easy every time. But with God it’s always easier. There is no way that we can change many things that happen to us. God, on the other hand, is bigger than any mountain, and His strength is limitless. And knowing that we’ve always got a Father that loves us is a great way to overcome the negative and choose to be happy and joyful.

Of course, there is the possibility that some of you all might not have God to fall back on. The good news is that He’s always open for business. He’s got a place for you already. The eternal love and support of God are easily accessible. Those of us that have already claimed a personal relationship with Christ have the same things available. We can be happy and joyful through everything. It’s just not always an easy thing to do.

Nehemiah 8:10- Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.