The other day in a bookstore I sat next to a girl reading a book about happiness. The book was about a lady who spent a year of her life looking for happiness. Each month she tried something different to find happiness... like working on her manners, or searching different religions, or trying a new hobby. It made me start thinking about people searching for happiness in our world. Everyone wants to be happy. It's part of a void we're searching to fill in our lives. I find happiness to be momentary, affected by situations. If I search for happiness, I only end up disappointed. I find that JOY on the other hand is so much more than that. I can be full of joy even in difficult situations.
Happiness is defined as the state of being happy. And happy is defined as delighted, pleased or glad, as over a particular thing. Joy on the other hand is defined as the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying. Joy is being satisfied, whether good or bad. I'm so thankful to have found joy in my relationship with my Savior. Searching through the Word there are so many references about joy. biblegateway.com finds 242 word finds in the NIV version. I am grateful for that joy that fills me. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Talking about happiness with those who do not know the Lord is the perfect opportunity to share about the joy we have in Christ. I pray that I learned from this conversation with this girl how to share next time. I also pray I will be filled with His joy and not live momentarily, from situation to situation searching for happiness. And I pray you will do the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment