Day 10: J is for Joy

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of JOY; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11

J is for Joy. Joy is a feeling of great pleasure, happiness, or delight. According to this definition, one could easily think that joy was an emotion. But, it is not.

There is so much heard and seen in the world today about happiness. It seems like it is a world-wide … or at the minimum, a nation-wide … epidemic, correct? It seems like we are over-run with unhappiness. What is the world’s answer? Make yourself happy! They tell you to stop letting others dictate your life. In other words, DO things that make YOU happy! Hmm!? It makes me believe that happiness is based on the circumstances around me. Is that what you are seeing as well?

The definitions of joy and happiness are very similar, and, therefore, can be mistaken as one and the same. But, as I study this word, I am seeing more and more of a difference between the two.

In fact, out of curiosity, I looked up to see how many times the word happy was found in the Bible. It is found 25 times. That really is not a substantial amount seeing as there are 783,137 words in the King James Bible. So, that means that the word happy appears in .00003 percent of the words of the entire Bible. Wow! That is a great indicator of how important our happiness should be in our lives.

Now, look at the word joy. It is found 187 times. I did not read each of the verses with happy and joy in them, but I read enough to see a pattern coming forth. “What is that pattern?” you ask. Well, I see where happiness was always surrounded by happenings. Joy was always surrounded by inner peace and contentment that had nothing to do with the circumstances surrounding it. Take time today to check it out yourself and see if you can see this as well.

Out of all of the verses on joy, I love Psalm 16:11 because it just seems to so simply put true joy into perspective … and I need simple! True joy is found in God, my friend! You can try to change all of the circumstances around you in search of that peace and that happiness, but you will never find it … aside from God Himself!

True joy comes from being close to God … being in His presence … and being obedient to Him. It is not all about Y-O-U, my friend, but it is all about Him! I am sure that you have heard of the simple acrostic for J-O-Y (Jesus-Others-You). When we put Jesus first, others and yourself will fall into their proper place (Matthew 6:33). When you spell Y-O-U backward, what do you have? U-O-Y … does that even make sense? No, because U are in the way! Put J-esus first and then you will have J-O-Y!

Lesson Objective: To understand the difference between joy and happiness. To understand how “U” (you) can get in the way of true joy. To learn to put J-esus first, followed by others, and leaving yourself (“U”) for last.

Did you pass or did you fail?