Which of the Seven Dwarfs are you?
This is the second post of my “Happiest Place on Earth” series and I promised you yesterday that we would take a look at what the Bible says about being happy. But first, I want to ask: are you happy? Right now, right this minute, do you feel happy? Or unhappy? Are you content, or do you feel discontent? Are you ecstatic and joyful? Or are thunder clouds looming? Why?
What is it that defines our happiness? I know for me, many times I’ve let the circumstances around me and in my life dictate my happiness. For years, when friends asked me how I was, I would reply “busy.” Sometimes my tone was happy. Sometimes it was stressed. Most of the time it was irritated because whoever was asking the question was obviously interrupting me from my busyness! If I had to compare myself to one of the dwarfs we saw while at Disney World this past vacation, if I put my face up to a mirror, I’m sad to say that quite often, over the past several years, it would probably have reflected more of Grumpy the dwarf than his jovial counterpart, Happy.
How can we be Grumpy when we know Jesus? Seriously. So many Christians I know aren’t happy – they’re miserable! And it’s almost like we think it should be that way! We tune into all of the things we’re told we can’t do, but we miss realizing the blessings and the opportunities we’ve been given! We get hung up on the struggles of not doing, so much so that we don’t do anything!
No, God didn’t promise us a perfect life – that ended when Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden – but neither does He tell us we should expect our lives to be terrible. If we know Jesus, if we’re spending time with Him and God our Father and we say that we love Him, shouldn’t our faces reflect that? Shouldn’t our lives show more peace, more joy? No matter our circumstances?
James 5:13 says “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”
Psalm 68:3 says “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.”
If we are living righteously – conscientous, trustworthy, irreproachable – than we should be happy. I’m not saying bouncing off the walls crazy happy, though who knows, there may be times for that, but we should allow God’s light to shine through us… every day.
When I was a freshman in college, I had the chance to help out with my home church’s youth choir tour one summer. If you’ve ever been part of a youth choir, you know the drama that can ensue on a trip – who likes who, who doesn’t, who talks about who, who isn’t talking to who, you get the idea. I made a commitment to myself and to God that I would be a light that week to the teenagers I was helping; I wouldn’t lose my temper, I wouldn’t gossip, I wouldn’t get sucked into drama. And, I think I surprised myself when I kept that commitment. I focused on spending time with God before I started my day, and then I tried praying throughout the day as time permitted and things came up or people came up who I needed to pray for. I wasn’t stressed, I didn’t get upset when others all around me were, and you know what? People noticed. Several younger girls stopped me that week and asked why I was so happy – why I seemed so peaceful. Why I wasn’t letting so and so get on my nerves. And I was able to tell them it was God, and He was where I drew my strength, my happiness – and not my circumstances.
Now, I wish I could tell you I came home from that trip and carried on exactly like I’d done while I was away, but mountain-top experiences are often that – experiences left on the mountain when faced with the challenges and problems of everyday life. But, I believe that experience happened because there was intention and discipline and motivation behind it. And those are all things we can put in front of us every day, with God’s help.
Part of the daily job that the Seven Dwarfs had was to work their diamond mine, looking for the sparkly treasure. As Christians, we hold onto the greatest treasure! God’s grace and His salvation for us all. Yet, most of us would rather hold onto that treasure and keep it back in our mines, tucked away from prying or undeserving eyes, rather than bringing it out to share with the rest of the world.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what it means to be happy. What is it that makes you happy? Please share your comments with the rest of us.
And join us tomorrow when we talk about rediscovering the happiness and joy of being a Christ-follower and how we pass that on to others.
Other posts in this series:
The Happiest Place on Earth (Part One)
Related posts:
