Joy vs. Happiness

First, I am very sorry for the absence of blogs over the last 2 months. Both my husband and I have changed jobs and moved! Today at church our message was given by one of our church plant pastors working in Salt Lake City Utah. He spoke about Psalms 23. That is a heavy chapter! However, my brain was completely stuck on the first verse. Psalms 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." My Mother loves this passage so I have heard it over and over, but it resonated in a different way today. WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED THROUGH CHRIST! A shepherd takes care of his sheep. The sheep follow and completely trust the shepherd and need nothing. God is a perfect shepherd, but we typically are not great sheep.

Everything the sheep need is provided. This made me think of joy and happiness. Happiness is an emotion that can never be satisfied. You may get the best iPhone and love it until the new one comes out. You may get the car of your dreams, until a new car is made that has more features. You may get a new job title, but then we desire the next step. You may get a raise, and then you live to those means and desire a bigger raise. Happiness ebbs and flows. Happiness is based off of circumstance.

Joy is something quite different, it is complete satisfaction that you are doing what you were created to do - regardless of the outcome. For Christians - it is doing God's will. We may succeed or fail, but it does not matter because our joy does not come from any recognition, it comes from knowing your are doing God's will for your life. I know I have been called to lead the development of clinical programs while loving His people. My teams and I may succeed or fail, but our success is not a dependency for joy. If we fail, we fail fast and learn from it and get back up and dream bigger. God will provide and pull us through every situation needed to take us where we need to go.

My daughter is literally on the other side of the world right now. She is so far, it is 13 hours different. She is already in tomorrow! As she tells others about Christ, it is unlikely very many will even listen; however, she feels called to do so. She has joy loving the people in this county and meeting their needs. Who knows the seed she will plant? Regardless of rather she sees people come to Christ, she has joy. God's plan is always bigger.

I challenge all of us to truly be sheep. To be his sheep we must depend on God, read the Bible so we know His will, and pray and listen to God. We have to trust Him regardless of the circumstance. Our shepherd loves us and will provide. WE SHALL NOT WANT! WE ARE COMPLETELY JOYFUL! NO MATTER WHAT, TRUST GOD!