The Plumbline

God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) We might not realize it, but God's desire is for us to walk in true peace, not the temporary peace of the world that we sometimes refer to as 'happiness'. Happiness is situational - God's true peace is there all the time - even in the roughest of times. The world offers us 'sanctuary peace' - get away, relax, take your mind off the issues at hand, and restore. God offers 'true peace' - in the midst of the chaos, with pressures mounting, his peace permeates the crevices of our heart, mind, and emotions. There is a condition to true peace, though. It is that we move from a place of 'self-dependence' (doing things our way, in our timing, with whatever effort we can exert) into a place of dependence upon him. What does this dependence look like? If we are looking only at what we can see on the surface, there might be evidence of 'emotional balance'...

Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) Regretfully, there are just some moments in life when joy is the furthest thing from the emotions we are feeling at that moment. The world seems to equate joy with happiness, though, so when anything disturbs our happiness, we might say that our joy has been stolen by the event or memory. Joy is a much deeper feeling and is not based in circumstance - it is based on the relationship we have with Jesus. Happiness is elation over something that happened - it is fleeting and isn't guaranteed to be 'evoked' all that often. Joy is the emotion that emerges when we remember we have been placed securely in the arms of Jesus, that nothing and no one can rock our world so badly as to remove us from that safe place. Some will understand it best when we say that joy is internally based, while happiness is externally stimulated. If...

Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves.  Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror.  They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like.  But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy. (James 1:22-25) How many times did you have to be told something as a kid? Mom would ask me to do something, and I might not want to do it, but if I didn't act upon it the first time she asked, there was no asking a second time! Some of you know exactly what I mean. Obedience was expected, the first time, without hesitation. Is it to be any different with God? There are times he asks for us to do something very specifically, but we hesitate. Why is that? It could ...

Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit. (Hosea Ballou) We can find many ways to seek happiness in this lifetime, but few measure up to true happiness. In fact, ask any ten people for their definition of happiness and you will receive ten different answers. What becomes evident is that happiness is pretty much 'accomplished' when something we want comes to fruition. We are happy when it is a sunny day, and we are not working so we can enjoy it. We are happy when there is money in our bank account, sufficient to pay the bills, but with a bit left over to enjoy some 'free time'. Contentment differs from happiness, because it is not based upon some external condition being met. When the heart and mind are at rest, peace abounding within, spirit in communion with God, we are content. We may not be 'happy' because there are clouds in the sky, but we can be content to know God is at the helm of our day. I inherited your book on living...

Laughter cannot mask a heavy heart. When the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13) Erma Bombeck once reminded us, " There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt ." This "thin line" as she calls it is really very concerning - for if it is crossed, the laughter can certainly turn to pain quite quickly. We never really know what is just beneath the surface in the lives of those we meet with each and every day. We might think we really know them, but in truth, there can be very little 'space' between immense sorrow and loneliness on the inside from what we see displayed as confidence and friendliness on the outside. We need to become skilled 'readers' of the human condition. We might not always recognize just how close to grief or sorrow a man's heart may be until we cross the line into that 'finite space' between the happier self displayed on the surface and the hurting self hidde...

Always be filled with joy in the Lord. I will say it again. Be filled with joy. (Philippians 4:4 ERV) In modern days, we often equate happiness to joy and vice-versa. Happiness is dependent upon the circumstances. Joy is something much deeper, welling up from within. This is why scripture tells us to be "filled with" joy. When people are "favored" in some manner, by good fortune, luck, or some happening that delights them, they are said to be happy. When people are said to be joyful, it usually wells from a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment. There are subtle differences, but one is very dependent upon circumstance while the other is more of a lasting emotion. A lot of people try to give really deep meaning to one and a shallower meaning to the other, with happiness being very fleeting and joy more of a lasting emotion. The truth is that both are emotions - one can be a little longer lasting because it is based in keeping our eyes on Jesus even when the ci...

Have you ever planned for a trip, or some big event, and found yourself counting the days until that moment?  I have! In fact, I usually do a countdown till vacation simply because those moments away for refreshing and renewal are not that frequent - I look forward to them with delight.  The process of "counting down" really brings you to a place of anticipation, doesn't it?  I think that is why Advent calendars were invented - to help kids know when they could truly anticipate the time when they would unwrap their presents.  With each passing day, they could look at the calendar and come to a place of knowing how many more "sleeps" it was before the big day.  Most of us don't live with this sense of anticipation everyday, do we?  We might on occasion, but it is not a way of life for us.  I wonder how differently we might see things if we were to truly understand just how short our days on this earth are - would it change how we live each day? Tea...

What brings you joy in life?  How is it that you experience joy?  There are many today who equate happiness with joy - if I am happy, then I will be joyful.  Joy comes when you have experienced a "deep delight" in something which you have found pleasurable.  Something exceptionally good or satisfying has been experienced and we find extreme pleasure in it - lasting, deep, and meaningful pleasure.  A silly joke makes us happy, while the experience of the birth of our firstborn may make us joyful.  One carries the idea of the emotional "response" to the situation, while the other describes the condition of the heart and soul as a result of what one has experienced.  Happiness is a little more fleeting than joy - with joy, there is a memory formed which goes a lot deeper than that of the thing which gave us a little bit of happy emotional "release". I’m overjoyed at your word, like someone who finds great treasure. (Psalm 119:162 CEB) To be overj...

Do you ever catch yourself in the "when" and "then" thinking mode?  "When" things get a little less hectic, "then" I can...  Or perhaps "when" I finally finish this, "then" I will feel a lot better about myself.  We all do it - drifting into the "when" and "then" thinking mode on occasion.  It is when we dwell there that life becomes a little sketchy for us!  All of us have the tendency to base our "happiness" on the "when" and "then" theory. We think someone or something, some series of events, or perhaps some final outcome will bring us to the place where we can declare ourselves truly happy.  Instead of living in the "now", we focus on the "when" and "then" - missing the opportunities of the "now".  You have probably caught that theme in my writing lately because I find myself thinking this way on occasion.  I find myself borrowing fro...