Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church – “You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)
Everyone wants to be happy. But there is a kind of happiness that comes from circumstances, possessions or the people we love, and it can vanish at any moment. This article reminds us to tell the difference between passing happiness and true joy in God. Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).
“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!” the little girl said to her grandmother.
The big bad wolf, discouraged after a recent episode with the three little pigs, had come up with a new scheme. He could no longer rely on brute force to catch his prey. Huffing and puffing had to give way to deception. Our enemy is the same. He has refined his strategy, and we live more in “Little Red Riding Hood” than in “The Three Little Pigs.”
Where there is persecution, he still huffs and puffs through wicked people to destroy the church and feast on souls. He threatens death to those who walk in the Way, hoping to frighten them away from eternal life.
In the West, he often takes a subtler approach, luring us into the trap of comfort. Ease and success lull us to sleep in our cottages, while pleasures dull our ability to notice that grandmother has very big teeth.
Joy, What Big Teeth You Have!
Put simply, the devil often confuses us into mistaking worldly contentment for spiritual satisfaction. We rejoice in something new, a job, a relationship, a success, and we often wrongly assume that our joy automatically finds its source in God.
It often sounds like this: “My time with the Lord has been so sweet lately! I feel His presence in new ways and I am rejoicing in Him in this season!” In my experience, both saying it and hearing it, what we often really mean is that we have been blessed with a promotion or a renewed romance.
The wolf is exposed when we ask: What exactly makes your fellowship with God sweet right now? Are you drawn to Him more in His Word? Are you kneeling before Him more often in prayer? Are fleshly desires that displease Him being replaced by good works and love for your neighbor? Are these the marks of your season of joy? Of course it is a happy season if your wallet is full, a loving spouse waits for you at home and your work worries have disappeared. But what about Jesus?
Certainly God is the giver of every good gift (James 1:17), and He gives them for us to enjoy. But if we learn anything from Israel’s history, it is that physical blessing is not the same as spiritual blessing. Abundance in the Promised Land often led to spiritual apathy, unbelief and finally exile.
A False Joy Observed
Even C.S. Lewis was confused by this. In A Grief Observed, he reflects on how near God seemed to him in seasons of happiness, and how strikingly absent He seemed when he was suffering. When we are so happy that we hardly feel any need of God, and even feel His claims on us as an interruption, we may still turn to Him with thanks and feel welcomed. But when we come to Him in desperate need, Lewis writes, it can feel like a door slammed in our face, followed by silence.
In our most prosperous seasons, we often forget God in His gifts, and join Lewis in a false joy that, instead of leading us into deeper fellowship and obedience, leads us to “feel no need of God.” Indeed, this happiness in sheep’s clothing makes God and His claims on us feel like an intrusion: “Go away, Father, can’t You see I’m playing?”
No wonder He feels absent when trouble comes. When trials jolt us awake from comfortable spiritual sleep, we realize that we were the ones who withdrew from God, hiding in a cave to enjoy our cheap trinkets. We are wrong to assume that more gifts mean more presence. When we do, we have more prosperity gospel in us than we think.
Do We Want True Joy?
Beloved, should we receive blessings from God and repay Him with forgetfulness? Should we see the proof of His love in giving His only Son and respond with indifference? Should we forget God’s name while He has engraved ours on the palms of His hands? Is there any greater injustice than lovers who lock their heavenly Bridegroom in the attic of their affections?
Ask yourself: Is the sun of my love for Jesus rising or setting? Do I need more of Christ, or will other pleasures fill my heart?
Beloved, do not trade fellowship with God for His other gifts. Enjoy God’s gifts, but do not exchange Him for them. Christ Himself is our life (Colossians 3:4). Eternal joy is not found in God’s things, but in God Himself (Psalm 16:11).
Finding True Happiness in God
The gifts God gives, family, work, health, are good and worth enjoying. The problem comes only when we treat them as the source of happiness instead of the Giver. Psalm 16:11 reminds us that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy.
Ask yourself: If I lost what I love most today, would I still rejoice in God? An honest answer will show what your happiness is built on.
You may also like: The Secret of Contentment in the Lord and Lay Aside the Weight of Perfectionism.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for every good gift You give. Keep us from trading You for those gifts. Help us find true happiness and complete joy in Your presence. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Article: Communications Ministry – Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church
Adapted from: DesiringGod.org
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