Joy is better than happiness

The Pilgrims faced many difficult circumstances. Crossing the Atlantic was miserable. Rough seas cracked the main beam of the Mayflower. The first winter was brutal. Scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis were rampant. Almost half the people died that first winter.

The Pilgrims did not focus on their difficulties. They rose above them! Even in the midst of tough times the Pilgrims experienced joy. The first Thanksgiving celebrated God’s goodness to them.

Joy and happiness are different. Happiness is based upon circumstances. Joy rises above circumstances. One person said, “Joy is a state of mind and orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope.”

How can we build joy into our lives? The answers are found in the Book of Philippians! Sixteen times the words joy and rejoicing are mentioned in Philippians. Paul and Silas experienced great persecution in Philippi. A mob attacked and beat them with rods. Thrown into prison their feet were fastened in stocks. Their legs were spread as far apart as possible to produce painful cramping. They responded by “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).

Years later the great apostle shared the secrets of joy. We can experience joy at all times. We can orient our hearts and minds toward contentment, confidence and hope. In Philippians 1:3-5 four keys produce joy in our lives.

First, we must focus upon the good and not the bad. Verse 3 reads, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Paul focused on the good and not the bad in the Philippians. We must choose to focus upon the good. The old song says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

Second, we must focus on others and not ourselves. Verse 4 says, “…always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…” Paul wrote from prison in Rome. Paul was imprisoned yet he focused on others! Paul prayed for them. He might have said, “Pray for me. I am in prison. I might die.” Instead, he prayed for them.

The highest form of prayer is intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer prays for others. The night before He died, Jesus prayed in John 17. He prayed to His Father. Jesus then focused on His disciples and finally on you and me. Acts 20:35 reminds us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Third, we must focus on family and not isolation. Philippians 1:5 says, “…because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” Partnership means “fellowship.” God has given us physical families. He has also given us spiritual families- the church. A depressed person is an isolated person. Paul understood he was part of a large family- the church.

God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

Fourth, we must focus on the future and not just today. Philippians 1:6 reads, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Believers in Jesus have a very bright future. The death and resurrection of Jesus offer eternal life. Repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus produce spiritual life. Jesus warned, “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

President John F. Kennedy in 1963 said, “Over three centuries ago, our forefathers in Virginia and in Massachusetts, far from home in a lonely wilderness, set aside a time of thanksgiving. On the appointed day, they gave reverent thanks for their safety, for the health of their children, for the fertility of their fields, for the love which bound them together and for the faith which united them with their God.” The first thanksgiving lasted three days. Ninety Native Americans and fifty-three Pilgrims celebrated together. May we also rise above our circumstances and build joy into our lives.

Ethan Hansen is a pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.