Happiness Stompers

You’re driving along with your friends, sun is shining, a light breeze is going. Things are great. Then your favorite song plays on the radio:

“Because I’m happy. Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth. Because I’m happy. Clap along if you know what happiness is to you.”

Pharrell just captures it.

Happiness…friends, sunshine, great weather, awesome music. Just plain happiness. Ahhhh. Happiness is like a fresh breeze. Or a free desert. Or a surprise visit from your best friend.

But then something happens. Something swoops in- a happiness stomper- and now everything is different. In minutes your happiness is shattered, gone.

Just. Like. That.

Your mood has changed, angry social media statuses go up, and things look completely different.

Maybe the happiness stomper is something simple like a red light, a failed test, a missed phone call, or an upsetting facebook status. We let little foxes into our vineyard to destroy the fruit. We allow the little things to creep in and choke our attitude, steal our happiness, and ruin our day. We give up and let the small bad things overpower the bigger good things.

Happiness stompers can also be something serious though, like cancer, a break-up, an accident, or even a death of a loved one.

Now, life has been turned up on its heels, the sky has changed colors, and nothing seems like it used to. It’s not just a little fox and a few grapes, but it’s the entire vineyard, life is completely different, things have changed and our happiness went with it.

However, for those who abide in Christ, we have another option.

Psalm 144:15 says:

 “Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.”

As Christians we will still have bad days, red lights, awful news, little foxes, and life changes each and every day.  But we don’t walk through them alone. We have a life giving source that resides inside of us, breathing life into us.

We have something far greater than happiness; we have joy that only comes from God.

Happiness is like a water fountain at school, it quenches thirst. Joy is like a water fountain outside of a palace, it not only quenches your thirst but is beautiful to look at and experience.

When we walk with Jesus we have that life giving, joy breathing fountain inside of us. We don’t have to be happy about the little foxes or the life upending things, but we can still be joyful.

We can be joyful because we know that God is in charge of it all.

That He has a plan we may not understand. That God will walk us through it, whatever it looks like, and that we’re not alone. We can be joyful in that.

– Danielle

 

And CONGRATS to  Rachel Piper for winning our GIVEAWAY last week!