The Difference Between Joy And Happiness

We often don’t think about joy until we lose it. I think we tend to view joy as a fair-weather friend. It is present when things are going well in our lives, but when life happens, when things fall apart, joy seems to vacate the premises.

I think that we often confuse joy and happiness. Maybe we even view those words as synonymous. While they have some strong similarities, it is important to establish the nuance between these words.

Happiness, at its core, is a feeling. It is a temporary feeling that ebbs and flows with my circumstances. It enters my life. It exits my life. When I am in the Starbucks drive-thru waiting for my brown sugar shaken espresso, I am generally feeling very happy. However, when I am driving home and somebody cuts me off in traffic, my happiness can leave in an instant. It’s often fickle.

 Joy is fundamentally different. Joy is not primarily an emotion. Joy is a mindset, posture, and inward reality. It exists on the full spectrum of human emotions. I can be joyful and happy. However, I can also be joyful and sorrowful.

Joy is the embracing of a reality that cannot be taken away from us in Christ. Joy is gripping onto God’s promises which stay true no matter how turbulent our lives get.  

Joy rests in the fact that the trials and hardships which enter my life do not do so without passing God’s desk first. And the ones that do enter my life are shaping and molding me to be more like Christ. This is what James says when he writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Joy doesn’t come from the trials and hardships themselves; joy comes from the fact that our tossings do not get the last word—God does. Joy is embracing the fact that even though we don’t understand our circumstances, God is using them to make us more and more like His Son, Jesus.

Joy is resting in God’s definition of good.

 For the past couple of months, I have been preaching through the book of Philippians at my church. Paul talks about joy sixteen times throughout the short letter. This book talks more about joy than any other book of the Bible. However, the interesting thing is that Paul pens this book about joy while he is sitting in a Roman prison cell.

Roman prisons were not known as safe spaces. They were not focused on the rehabilitation of prisoners. They were dank, dark, and disease-filled. Many times, there was no personal space as many prisoners would often be chained together. Prisoners were mistreated, dehumanized, and often tortured.

I would expect that in this scenario Paul didn’t feel “happy.” Most of us wouldn’t blame Paul if he lost all joy in this situation. But what is interesting is when we approach the book of Philippians, we do not see a broken man who was crushed beyond repair or one who has become cynical. Rather, we find a confident, joy-filled man writing a letter to comfort a hurting church. He goes so far as to say, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

He can say this because his joy was not found in the bending and ricocheting of his emotions or present circumstances, his joy was based on who Christ said he was and what Christ was doing in him. It was based on the gospel.

The world may have rejected him, but Christ had embraced him.

The world may have condemned him, but Christ had forgiven him.

The world may have broken and cut him, but Christ had healed and bound him.

The world may even take away his life, but Christ was his life.

For Paul, no matter what happened to him, his joy was secure. And it wasn’t because he had a full 401k. His joy didn’t come from his empire built from his hustle. His joy didn’t even come from having a perfect family. His joy came from the fact that Christ had claimed him as His own and was working in him. Christ was the center of Paul’s life.

Where are you finding your joy today? You may not be in a Roman prison cell, but you may be facing difficult and painful circumstances. Maybe you just lost your job. Or maybe you just received bad news from the doctor. Maybe you are laboring to parent your children, and you wonder if they will ever “get it.” Maybe you are facing trouble as you have never seen it in your life before. Have you let your circumstances determine your joy?

Oftentimes, when the waves during the storms of our lives toss us about, it can be easy for us to lose our joy. We often forget that God is doing something amid our pain. Charles Spurgeon was once credited as saying, “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.” What he means by this is that it is during his trials, during the tumultuous times, that he is reminded that his only solid ground is Jesus.

Frederick Buechner once said that joy is “knowing that even though you see only through a glass darkly, even though lots of things happen—wars and peacemaking, hunger and homelessness—joy is knowing, even for a moment, that underneath everything are the everlasting arms.” 

Are you welcoming those everlasting arms that reach out to welcome you today?