True peace

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' - not overreacting, taking things in stride. There could also be a sense of wisdom in the choices that are being made - not rashly doing this or that but taking reasonable steps in God's perfect timing.

In Christ Jesus, we face life's challenges a bit differently that the world does. We have learned to trust in his power and strength - leaning into the wisdom he brings - listening intently for his direction. We don't take the 'opinion' of those who don't trust in Jesus as gospel, but rather seek truth, learning when to move as he directs. The more we come to know the love and grace of Jesus, the deeper our trust in who he is, what he does, and how he accomplishes things within our lives. That deep trust is the basis of true peace.

The world will tout that we need to gauge our actions based upon whether they produce 'happiness' within our lives. If we all lived to do or say whatever made us 'happy' we'd be a rather fickly lot! Happiness is elusive, but peace is permanent. Happiness is based upon circumstances, but peace is based in the person of Jesus. The foundation of each is different - the sooner we realize that the sooner we will learn to walk in true peace! Just sayin!

The place of true joy

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 the external factors are just right, there will be happiness. If they are not as expected, the joy is soon fleeting. Joy is found in knowing we serve a big God - bigger than the circumstances at hand, always overseeing our lives, and never letting us flounder when our faith is a bit challenged.

Whatever happens - always be thankful. That isn't possible when all we rely upon is the emotion of happiness. Nothing guarantees the external factors will always be 'right' or 'good', but God ensures us that he walks with us through anything - good or bad, easy or difficult. Never stop praying - perhaps this is the key to understanding joy's deeper roots. We always have someone to turn to, even when the emotions aren't as 'positive' or 'high' as we might like them to be. We can turn directly into the arms of Jesus, look fully into his face, and share those ups and downs with him. This is the place of true joy. Just sayin!

Happy?

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 be that we think the thing he requires of us is just a bit too hard - like consistently reading the Word each day or beginning to tithe faithfully. I have found that when we finally do take the steps of obedience he requires, what we feared the most about taking those steps wasn't really all that bad. Obedience doesn't have to be 'burdensome' or 'harder than we'd like' - it can actually be quite rewarding.

If we examine our passage closely, we will observe there is a state of emotional well-being that is the result of obedience. Doing what God asks results in freedom - freedom brings a sense of emotional 'happiness' that we might just be missing out on if we are dragging our feet about something God is asking for us to do. One might think they could ignore God's requests, but there is a definite 'rub' that comes when there is indifference to his teachings. When we actually allow his teachings to permeate our minds, our will begins to change and that actually affects our emotional status. If we are a bit too 'on edge', angry all the time, disappointed in ourselves or others almost continually, we might do well to ask God if there is some area of our life that he has asked for obedience in and we haven't responded to that request.

Obedience isn't optional, but it is up to us to actually take those steps toward whatever it is God is asking of us. We might not believe 'freedom' or 'emotional well-being' will be the result of our steps, but when those steps are taken because God asks them of us, the end result will be good. Just sayin!

An elusive goal?

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; it’s mine forever— what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what you say— I always have and always will. (Psalm 119:112)

True happiness is based on who we are, not what we can achieve or accomplish. We are redeemed children of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We are heirs of grace and benefactors of forgiveness. We are restored lives, broken no longer by life's bad choices. Happiness is an emotion we experience because we realize these things - contentment is a state of mind, heart, and soul because we know these things. God's Word has a way of creating 'discontentment' within us - it drives us to seek with all we possess, confess what doesn't belong any longer in our lives, and reach out to be enveloped in God's open arms. Why? To bring us into the place of contentment - the place where we don't just seek the 'highs' of happiness, but we abide in the 'evenness' of true contentment.

What a gift! Yes, the Word of God can produce many emotions within - ranging from angst over something we knew wasn't the best for us to pursue to the peace of knowing we are right where we need to be right now. Are we to dwell on these emotions? No, but we are to allow them to stir within us the desire to understand why it is we are experiencing them at that moment. The angst should drive us to stop, turn around, and take a different course. The peace should assure us we are traveling on a good course. Too many times we pursue the emotional avenue - if it feels good, we do it; if not, we don't. Truth be told, not every step of obedience will come with the emotional 'high'. Some steps of obedience actually come with some emotions like 'fear', 'doubt', and 'frustration'. 

How can that be if God's desire for us is to take those steps of obedience? Obedience doesn't mean the way will be easy - it just means the way will be marked by his presence affirming we are on the right path. If we live by the standard of 'happiness', we will be chasing an elusive goal. If we live by the standard outlined in the Word of God above all else, we are likely to experience this 'condition' of contentment. Just sayin!

Hey, it is okay if you are hurting!

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 hidden just beneath. We often hear this referenced when someone takes their own lives - those who knew the individual well sometimes not even really recognizing the sorrow that was hidden in the recesses of the individual's heart. The final 'note' left behind can be the only 'telling' sign of their tremendous anguish which burdened their hearts until the final beat. The human condition is indeed frail - we just don't recognize the depth of this frailty.

Back in the day, I loved to read those funny quips in Reader's Digest, for they were designed to get us to chuckle a little, if not openly laugh out loud. Most of us would relish the idea of a world where there was no sorrow or grief, but the truth of the matter is that grief does a great deal to refine what is in a man's heart. It could just be the purpose behind it! Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. (Ecclesiastes 7:3) I wonder how different our encounters would be if we were to ask someone what is bringing them sorrow in their life right now? I wonder just how many of us would admit we are in the refiner's fire? Most wouldn't - but the brave will!

While all of life is not going to be fun and games, not all of life is going to be sorrow and pain, either. When it does come, though, do we embrace it, or do we bury it? Buried grief is not really going to do us any good - it just burns a hole deep into our souls. While we might want to display a cheerful life on the surface, just beneath is this tremendous weight we carry. Maybe the best thing we can do for a friend is to just hold their hand, allowing them to unburden their hearts, and coming to terms with the immense grief that has dug deep into their souls. It might just be that we connect more on the 'sorrow' level with each other than on the 'happiness' level! It might just be the place where our breakthrough comes in life. Just sayin!

Joy-Filled

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 circumstances aren't all that great.

I think that is truthfully the only thing different between the two. Happiness tends to be short-lived because it is focused on the moment, while joy might just be a little "longer lasting" because we are constantly renewed in that joy each and every time we take time to focus upon Jesus. When we see that individual we haven't seen in ages, we are happy - the circumstances give us a sense of delight or thrill. When they are gone, that sense of happiness begins to wane. Joy is a "renewable" thing - it comes in waves and fills us often to overflowing. How? We take time to focus upon Jesus and his grace, love, peace, and other blessings begin to fill us up. In time, what we are filled with begins to "spill out", and others begin to sense this sense of deep joy we have in life. They may not understand it, but they sense it. I have often experienced a deep sense of joy and had nothing going right in my circumstances simply because I didn't take my eyes off Jesus during those harder times. I may not have been entirely happy to be going through those times, but as long as I kept my eyes on Jesus, nothing and no one could steal my sense of joy.

Adversity will come in life. What we do, where we maintain our focus during those seasons of adversity - this is what determines how it is we will navigate within those seasons. William Arthur Ward says it this way: "Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records." I think the thing that keeps us moving along when it seems like we should be beat down by life is this deep-seated joy of the Lord within. Where his presence dwells, there are endless possibilities, even when the circumstances seem to suggest otherwise. Just sayin!

Teach us to number...

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?

Teach us to number our days so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom. With every sun’s rising, surprise us with Your love, satisfy us with Your kindness.  Then we will sing with joy and celebrate every day we are alive.  (Psalm 90:12, 14 VOICE)

I think we get to the place of "taking for granted" each new day and every waking breath.  I think I first recognized this when I went into nursing and came face-to-face with individuals who were given very short spans of life to live based on their "terminal diagnosis".  In short order, their worlds were set on end - hearing those words "three months or less" were like a gavel being struck when a judge is issuing a sentence.  No amount of begging or bargaining was going to change the prognosis.  Although treatments may work to "ward off" the inevitable for a later date, the "sentence" was still the same.  Some curled up, went inside to that dark place we can sometimes find inside ourselves, and just stopped living right then and there.  Others fought for every waking breath they had left.  In the end, life was just "too short" or there was "too much left undone or unsaid" for some.

When our psalmist prays, "Teach us to number our days...", he is not being morbid.  Rather, he is asking God to give him a sensitivity to the shortness of life on this earth and the breadth of life into eternity.  In fact, when we begin to consider life this way, we might just become a little less concerned with the shortness of days physically walking around in this body of ours and more concerned with the time we spend after this body is gone!  The psalmist is just putting things into perspective - nothing lasts forever as we know it today.  Stop for a moment and consider how much of God's love, protection, and oversight in your life's events you recognize today.  Now, think back to a time just about a year ago, or maybe even a little longer.  What things between that time and today revealed a little bit more of God's love or care over your lives to you?  What events transpired, how many issues arose where he intervened in beautiful ways, and what about those times when he met with you in some way that simply left you speechless and in awe?  There is so much passage of time, we almost forget about those moments, don't we?

As our psalmist asks for God to help him number his days, he isn't just saying, "God, help me to realize how short time really is for me here on this earth."  He is asking God to help him make the most of each day, so more of God's grace and love is seen in his life and passed on to those around him. When we realize our "limited days", we view each opportunity as a unique experience.  I don't take for granted my days with my grandsons - fewer and fewer between as they grow older and pursue activities which are of interest to them.  I try to make it to some of the baseball games, cheering loudly and just hanging out.  I invite them to help me with projects in the yard which might give us a little time together.  I even put Legos together and build playing card houses.  Why?  My days with them matter - they bring me joy.  God is much like I am with my grandsons - he doesn't take for granted each moment we spend with him - for those moments bring his such joy!

Each new day is an opportunity for us to be surprised with God's kindness and delighted by his love.  I think we might look to be dazzled by his love and overwhelmed by his kindness, but if we change our perspective a little, we might just recognize the simplicity of joy instead of always seeking the fleeting moments of "happiness".  Joy is lasting - it is what forms in those moments of connection.  Happiness is not as reliable - for it is based upon the circumstances. Perhaps our psalmist's prayer is one of seeking connection in a more consistent manner - instead of seeking to have circumstances constantly lined up in a way which never brings sorrow, disappointment, or despair.  When connection is consistent, even the darkest of moments are times when his love is revealed.  Just sayin!

Overjoyed - not just happy

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 overjoyed is to be overcome with this deep sense of having experienced something of great delight.  In the Latin, this term comes from the root word which means to "fill with gladness".  When we think of being "overjoyed", we can equate it to being a cup which is not only filled to the brim, but the stream of water which filled the cup still continues to run, causing the cup to be continually filled to overflowing with a newness or freshness of that water. When God gives us blessing through is word, it isn't just to fill us - it is to bring us to the place we overflow with his goodness and grace - until we are experiencing a continual filling and renewal of that life-giving source within us.

We all find some things pleasurable, while others are not so memorable or significant in the scheme of things.  We might get a regular paycheck which is pleasurable, but when we get a bonus for some reason - that brings us a sense of unexpected blessing and joy.  There is something about being given what we didn't expect which just delights our soul.  God knows this and he is intentional in his actions of "overwhelming us" with what will bring great joy to the depths of our spirit and soul.  He isn't concerned with what makes us "happy" in a fleeting sense of the word, but what makes us deeply content, settled, and assured.

Our psalmist doesn't say he is overjoyed with the word - as though it was something he occasionally referenced.  He is overjoyed AT God's word - because it is what has become the constant resource for his daily bread.  He is well accustomed to finding his renewal there - AT the table of God's grace.  A lot of the time we are content to have the word of God WITH us, but God wants us to experience what it is like to be AT the faucet of his grace and renewal continually.  

I have told you before that I like these survival shows where you see how these men can survive for days in the wilderness with little more than a pocket knife and a length of fishing line.  One of the greatest treasures they seek is water - for the body cannot live without the life-giving substance for very long.  One of the first things they do after they construct a place of shelter is to find some source of "consumable" water.  Did you catch that?  The water has to be consumable - without bacteria which will invade their bodies and wreak havoc on their system.  Probably the most important thing they must consider is that the source of water must be sufficient enough to sustain them for their entire time in the wilderness.

They might find water, but until they find the source which is continually renewed, they are not going to settle for that place of dwelling.  Maybe this is what God has in mind when he draws us deeply into his word - he knows it is what will help us dwell long in his presence and find life-giving resource for the challenges which lie ahead.  Just thinkin!

When and then are enemies of now

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 from tomorrow and bringing it into today (the "when" thinking) - we call this worry. I find myself counting on the outcome of one thing to produce the outcome I desire (the "then" thinking) - we call this hope.  Worry is really a trust thing - hope is equally a trust thing.  Always living in worry or constantly holding onto some hope can make us very weary folks!  There is much to be done with our "now" - so we'd be best served just focusing on the "now" instead of the "when" and "then"!

Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.  (Ecclesiastes 2:21-23 NLT)

Solomon was deemed to be the wisest guy going.  He had amassed wealth beyond his ability to spend it all.  His fame was talked about through all the nations.  Yet, in the end of it all, he draws the conclusion that all the pursuits of this life just don't do it for you.  You work hard, amass until your coffers hold no more, then what you think will provide great pleasure pales in comparison for the hope you had for it.  He had been living in the "when" and "then" mode - finding it to be meaningless in the end.  Did you ever stop to consider the word you find in scripture which translates as "happy" in our English language?  It is the word "blessed".  Happiness isn't equated with the external circumstances and the things we can amass - it is equated with the internal peace and the comfort of knowing the presence of God within.

This is fundamental to living in the "now" instead of the "when" and "then". We must ever be cognizant of the presence of God in our lives - moving us from external focus for our satisfaction into a place of focusing on what dwells within.  In fact, happiness is an inward attitude - an attitude of choice.  It is the choosing to dwell in the here and now - not discounting we have hope for the future; nor does it discount the lessons we can draw from which pocked our past.  We just don't choose to stay in the "when" and "then" thinking.  If you go to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), you will see a list of "attitudes" or "choices" a man makes which define his potential for happiness. They are choices - choosing to live one way over another.  Really, when we begin to focus on the "now", we are doing just that - focusing on the choices which will impact our future and leave our past in the dust.

Something gets in the way of us living in the "now", though.  It is our pride. Whenever we focus on the "now", our pride might take a little hit or two. If we stop to consider this for a moment we will realize when we are always focusing on the "when", we are placing our hope in what will be, not on what is right now. When we are focusing on the "then", we are placing our hope in the idea of the reward or change which will come in the future, not in the present. Change begins in the present - it might be completed in the future, but it begins today.  

Dealing with our "today" keeps us humble - because we come face to face with the reality of having to deal with the things which must change today if we are to realize what we hope for in the future.  We must relinquish what we counted on in the past, or hold so desperately to because it defines us in some way "now".  Truth be told, past is past - what defined us yesterday should not be what defines us today.  We should be growing daily.  Our choices should be refined each day, changing our attitude in the process. A refining of attitude is what helps us to grow - not the "when" and "then" of a future state.  It is in the choices we make today, where the rubber meets the road, that our character is defined.  When Jesus says "Blessed is the man...", he is defining what makes up the character which leads to our true happiness.

Another thing we need to see about the "when" and "then" thinking is the foundation it lays for all we do.  As long as we keep the focus on the "when" and "then", we are probably living under some stress to impress someone with the "future state" we imagine we will achieve.  Pride keeps us focused on the "impression" we make - God keeps us focused on the "impression" he makes in our lives!  When we give up the "stress to impress" kind of thinking, we find ourselves settling into what God brings into our present with a knowledge he is using it to "impress himself" upon us.  What living in the "now" does for us is pretty simple - it gives us the freedom to live as we really are - to be true to our nature.  Our "nature" might need a little refining, true, but the refining only takes place in the "now".  God is a God of the present - his work is accomplished in our "today".  When we start to live in the moment, we become acquainted with the change he is focusing on "now" which ultimately will affect our "when" and "then".  In fact, we probably will see our perception of the "when" and "then" morph into something entirely different than we thought in the first place.  Just sayin!