“I have the right to be happy,” said a teenager as she spoke before a legislature. Yet she could have been anyone, anywhere, speaking for everybody. It’s our human cry. One self-help guru even said, “God wants you to be happy.”
Is that true? It’s not wrong to pursue happiness. That desirable state of mind, however, ebbs and flows with our moment-by-moment circumstances, and the fulfilment of one person’s desires can crush the happiness of another.
Jesus points us to something better. He knew He was about to be nailed to a Roman cross where He would bear the weight of the world’s sin. Yet His concern was for His disciples. He told them, “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.” But He also said, “Your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20). Then He promised, “No one will take away your joy” (v. 22).
This kind of joy is more than a good feeling based on desirable things happening to us. It grows out of doing the will of our Father in heaven. Jesus also said, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Happiness can slip away with the next unpleasant circumstance. The joy that comes from following Jesus can thrive despite those circumstances.
By Tim Gustafson
REFLECT & PRAY
How does chasing what you want ultimately leave you unhappy? What’s the difference between happiness and joy?
Dear Father, please teach me to find lasting joy in Jesus.
Rediscover the joy of journeying with the Lord by reading Knowing God in the Everyday at odb.org/resources
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16) is the main teaching focus of John’s gospel. The night before Jesus went to the cross, He was preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and return. He told them that their “grief [would] turn to joy” (16:20). One of the main features of Jesus’ teaching in these chapters is the promise of the coming Holy Spirit—Christ’s provision for His people after His departure. This promise was eventually fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2 ), some ten days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, when the Spirit came to indwell believers in Christ.
Bill Crowder
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