Enjoy your day!

Once I read, “Happiness is not about what happens to you,

                            but how you respond to what happens.”

I agree.

You’re not making the best argument here Cassie,

if Bardin saw this, he would rip you to shreds.

I never thought I’d hear myself say this, or write this,

(& my AP Lang class would know why)

But, rip me to shreds, Bardin,

because there are one word two words that throw this saying off...
“you respond.”

In SAVEDpaper, I ended up speaking a lot about response. I believe this is different.

Yes, happiness is, at times, how you respond to things that happen.

But what if I told you that joy had nothing to do with you at all?

Well, I can also tell you, that if you would’ve told me that a couple weeks ago…

I would have believed you.

What? Nice argument, Cass. You’re not  getting anywhere…

Okay, you see, I would have believed you because it sounded super spiritual,

and, also because I would have thought that I was already experiencing joy.
Hey, one of my closest friends and fellow core leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes in highschool,
even used "joy" to describe me in one word.

Now, I can tell you. I was wrong.
Thank you Josh, by the way, but I'm finding that
I was happy, but I wasn't experiencng joy.
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Joy dwells deep inside of us.

Cool! Like the ocean deep? No.

Oh, so like Shakespeare deep? Not really.

Ohh, so like Dave Matthew’s Band lyrics deep? What!? No. Definitely not.

Maybe deep isn’t even the right word.

Depth connotes an ending.

Happiness has an ending. Joy does not.

Happiness is pretty. Joy is beautiful.

Let’s readdress the definition of the “Joy Ride” I threw up in my first post…

“Joy Ride: -noun

1. A pleasure ride, especially when the vehicle is driven recklessly or used without the owner’s permission.*

2. a brief, emotionally exciting interlude**”

Except, this joy ride I have been taken on of late, doesn’t have two definitions.

The first definition is the only one that really fits this feeling I haven’t had until now.

The second definition is one we have all experienced.

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Before the joy ride, the car was just sitting there.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the car. No, not necessarily.

It was running! It always had to fill up, but it was definitely running- most of the time.

It had plenty of company! They came and they went, but it sure did have lots of company- most of the time.

It looked awfully nice! It continually needed a new paint job, but it looked the part- most of the time.

And, when it needed to fill up, no problem, it responded by getting gas.
Product: Happiness.

When the company left, or just got annoying, it responded by kicking them out, and finding someone else to satisfy them.
Product: Happiness.

When it felt insecure about the way its paint job looked, compared to everyone elses, it responded by going to the shop and got a new look.

Product: I think you get the point.

Happiness doesn’t last.

But I’ll get to that in a little bit…

Although I found so much truth in uncovering that difference,

what really struck me here were these* little* friends* of* ours* I found in the fine print…

On the bottom, it reads:

“*This isn’t really part of our philosophy

**This is.”

Why are they our friends? Because they tell us more of the truth.

We don’t really believe in joy.

But, I think part of that is because we don’t really know it even exists.

We believe in happiness! Sure, because we know it exists.

We have all experienced “a short, exciting interlude.”

A birthday party, a favorite TV series, your favorite dessert, a first kiss, a family vacation…

We’ve all had ‘em!

Or, we might even turn to what we think are "longer, more exotic interludes."
Drinking, substance, sex, appearance…

If it’s on this earth, you name it, it’ll give you happiness.

But we cannot mistake that for joy.

Why? Because, is anyone else noticing…

happiness is getting a little…

old?

To be fully honest, this has become one of the tougher posts for me to write.

But I think I’m finding that it's because joy is indescribable.

All you know is that when it comes upon you, it’s something you can’t avoid.

It’s something you can’t write down.

All you know is that it is joy that has made you wide awake.

It is joy that is giving you the headache because your eyes don’t blink as much as they used to,

               because you feel like you are finally exposed to His glory- daily.

It is joy that makes you write about your King at 4:00 in the morning- daily.

It is joy that makes you feel like you’ve just been reborn- daily.

It is joy that makes you feel like you are going to literally explode- daily.  

It is joy that makes you laugh at little things that weren’t really funny before- daily.

It is joy that makes you walk through the grass and not the sidewalk- daily.

It is joy that makes you wear clothes that don’t match and learn things from people you’ve never spoken to & subjects you've never cared about- daily.

It is joy that makes you smile and laugh as a bee approaches your face- daily.

But, it is also the joy that makes you cry- daily

               because the only thing you want anymore is for every person on this earth to encounter this joy.

It also must be the joy that has never made you feel more alive- daily

               while your body feels as if it is wasting away from the lack of sleep you have gotten.

But, this is all  just the overflow.

In short, it is joy that “wells up inside, just to say that, I belong to Jesus.”

                                                                                             –Show me Your Glory: Jesus Culture.

It is joy to know that the God you serve does not stop filling you up your tank,

and actually feeling it- not just some of the time.  

Daily. 

Because you see, you can avoid responding to certain situations.

You can’t avoid joy.

Joy is life. Joy is love. Joy is God.

Our God is not one who wants us to just be happy. It’s too temporal.

Because, happiness is up to us. It is how “you respond” to situations.

Our God wants to jump in our car an take us for a joy ride.

A “reckless” ride that happens to us, “without our permission.”

You can do all you want, but you cannot generate joy.

You can keep filling up on gas, in whichever form happiness you choose…

You can drive your car until it runs out of that same gas…

You can even get some person or multiple people to start pushing your car…

But until you let the One who created joy jump into your car,
and take you on the joyride of your life,

you just might never experience joy.
Lots of happiness? Absolutely.
But I wouldn't call it joy.

What gets the car going?

Nothing but Him alone.
More of Jesus. Product: joy.

It’s an unavoidable response to His glory;

It’s an unavoidable response to our risen King.

Thank You.

“Can you feel the joy well up inside?

Just to say that,

I belong to Jesus.”

-          Show me Your Glory: Jesus Culture