Happiness and joy are not the same thing. You can be joyful but not happy, and you can be happy but not joyful. When we moved into this trailer, I was not happy. I was joyful! What I mean by that is, you can be upset, hurt, mad, or stressed and not be happy, but you can still have joy radiating from your heart because Jesus is in it! I was not happy about the trailer at all. I chose to let my Jesus Joy shine instead of my Earthly Emotions. Nobody else was all that excited about the trailer either, and I knew we needed a little Jesus. I know I did not always act joyful, because I'm not very good at it, but I tried the best I could.
When I think of joy, I think of that feeling of blessed assurance that Jesus is mine, and I am His, and no power, principalities, height, depth, or anything else in all creation can get in the way. If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know if anything will! That good feeling of never-ending love does not fade or flee. Sure, it can get buried under grief and stress, but it's always there waiting on us. No matter what, we can do as Paul said: "Rejoice, and again I say rejoice!"
We can't always be happy. There's some song my nana sings that says something like "Don't worry, be happy." I really don't like those lines, because while you can chose to stop worrying, you can't just 'be happy.' Happiness is a temporary emotion that comes and goes with life. You can fake happiness, which never gets you anywhere, but I have never been able to make myself stay happy. You get a puppy, you get a promotion, you get a nice vacation, and you are happy. Your puppy gets lost, you get demoted, your vacation ends, and your happiness is gone. We can't depend on happiness because it will leave. True Jesus Joy will never, ever leave. Ever.
When you are spiritually healthy, joy comes easily. When a faith-shaking event comes, joy is harder to find. Miss Hope always said that we have to chose to have joy, and that's true. The joy is there, but if we let something take it away or we chose not to let it radiate, that's a loss on our part. It's our problem; The Bible says that God gives us joy and if we give it away, that's our issue. Don't let a passing event take your joy! It's one of our greatest gifts, and it's a great way to show that we are Christians. No wonder it's one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. There are several people who look so genuinely joyful, I could look at them and tell they were God's children right away. Let's be that way!!
Psalm 94:19 "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your comfort delights my soul."
Habukkuk 3:17-18 "Even if the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines, if the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food, even if the flock disappears from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." I love this verse. It's saying that even if all else fails, we still can rejoice in the Lord.
Isaiah 61:10 "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a groom puts on a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."