Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 120 | Happiness & Joy

Episode Date: June 3, 2019

Christians often draw a distinction between happiness and joy. But what does the Bible say about the two? Copyright Blaze Media All Rights Reserved.

Hey guys, happy Monday. Welcome to Relatable. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Thank you for starting your week with me. Today, we are going to talk about happiness and joy, happiness versus joy. Now, if you grew up in a Christian home, if you grew up going to Sunday school, if you went to a Christian school, then you have probably heard people talk about the difference between happiness and joy or even if you've just been a Christian for a little bit. You've heard people talk about the difference between happiness and joy. This is something that we're pretty well versed in. I remember probably it was middle school that I heard people say, oh, you know, there's a difference in happiness and a difference in joy. We hear that happiness is more of a superficial desire, that happiness

is really something that's more of the flesh, not necessarily simple, but something that is fleeting, something that is circumstantial. And then we hear on the other side of that, that joy is something that outlasts our circumstances. Joy is something that is steady. Joy is something that comes from Christ. Therefore, we should pursue and latch on to joy rather than happiness. My question is, is there really a difference between happiness and joy? According to God's word, are we correctly defining what happiness is according to what God says happiness is. Is this a distinction that we are making based on the world's definition of happiness and joy? Or is this a distinction that we're making based on the

Bible's definition of happy and joy? And honestly, I've heard both. I had a Bible teacher in high school tell me, you know, a lot of people will tell you there's a difference between happiness and joy. There's not a difference between happiness and joy. It's just, you know, a difference in semantics. It's just kind of superficial differences in a distinction. And then of course you have people who, like I said, said, no, there's a difference. Joy is something that is really unconditional. It comes from Christ. Happiness is something that is fleeting.

Happiness is okay. But it's not something that you should necessarily pursue. But I really wanted to know the answer for this from a biblical perspective. I think from a cultural perspective, and I'll get into this in a little bit, that's probably true. But from a biblical perspective, I wanted to know, is there really a difference between happiness and joy? because happiness, as we know, from a secular perspective, is something that you hear people saying that they want.

They want to obtain this sense of security, of fulfillment, of satisfaction. They want to make sure that all of their ducks are in a row, that they meet all of their goals, et cetera, and that they are happy in their life. This typically means for someone who is not a Christian that they are confident in who they are. They've reached their goal weight. They've got their goal job. Their hustle is going well. and they just have everything together and they're finally happy.

They're happy in their relationships. They're happy and everything. And then we as Christians, we look to that and we realize, okay, well, those things are ultimately going to fail you. They're ultimately going to disappoint you. And we don't hear a lot of people outside of Christianity talk about joy, talk about the pursuit of joy. So I think that's probably why Christians have traditionally drawn the line in the sand and

tried to draw that distinction. But let's go to the Word of God and let's see what the Word of God has to say about happiness and joy. So there are a few different variations of the word happy or happiness in the Bible. They are all in the Old Testament. The first is the word ashar, which literally means to be made level, to be made straight, to be made right, or it can also mean happy, can also mean to go forward, to prosper, can be used in the phrase to be called blessed. It can also, a variation of this is to step forward or to step into something. So here's the full definition of Ashar in my Hebrew Greek keyword study Bible that I use from time to time. It says a verb meaning to go straight, to go on, to advance forward, to be called blessed, or to be

made happy used figuratively it means to follow a straight path in understanding or in one's heart when it is used intensively it means going straight or advancing so we see this version of happy first in genesis 3013 when leah's servant bore jacob a son she said and lea or the bible says and lea said happy am i for women have called me happy so she called his name ashre and in psalm 72. 17, we see this term for happiness come in the form of being called blessed. It says, may his name, God's name endure forever. His fame continue as long as the sun. May people be blessed in him. All nations call him blessed. The third chapter of Proverbs personifies wisdom. If you've ever read Proverbs, you know it personifies wisdom a lot. In this particular chapter,

it personifies wisdom is someone that you want to get to know, someone that you want to hold on to. Verse 18 of this chapter says, She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. There we see again that the same term used for happy is used for calling someone or something blessed. In Proverbs 9.6, we see it used figuratively to mean to follow a straight path, like the definition we read says. It says, leave your simple ways and live and walk in a way of insight.

So in this version of the word happiness in Hebrew, happiness means to be called blessed, to be blessed, to go forward in blessing or to go forward on level ground or on a straight path. It's closely linked in many contexts to wisdom, especially in the case of Proverbs. So it seems that at least in the case that we're reading here, that happiness according to the Bible is not just a reaction, the way that we think of it in kind of, worldly terms. It's not just this superficial feeling according to the Bible. It's not just a reaction to circumstances. It is actually a state of being in a way of doing. It is a description, both of the blessing of God's favor for the Christian, but also describes how we are to go forward

and how we are going forward, this state of happiness to advance onward. Another word of happiness that we see elsewhere in scripture is Escher or Escher. I think the emphasis is on the first part, which is, according to the resource that I have, a masculine noun meaning a person's state of bliss. This Hebrew word is always used to refer to people and is never used of God. It is almost exclusively poetic and usually exclamatory. In Proverbs, this blissfulness is frequently connected with wisdom. So again, we see this state of happiness, the state of being described or describing humans is linked to wisdom or a way of life or a way of being. It's also used to describe a person or a nation who enjoys a relationship with God. Sometimes it has religious significance. My study

Bible says, sometimes it does not. So the Bible uses happiness to mean a state of bliss, which is not Ness, oh, this is still part of the definition, by the way, which is not necessarily linked to a mood, but is linked to a wisdom and to a relationship with God. So just like the verb meaning to be happy, the noun for happiness, the one that we just read, Escher, and the Bible is linked to rightness, to righteousness, to connection to God himself. Deuteronomy 3329 says this, happier you, oh, Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your triumph. So in describing Israel, it says that Israel is happy. Why? Because they are a people saved by the Lord, the Lord who is the shield

of their help, the sword of their triumph. So this is a state, not just a reaction of Israel, but a state of Israel, the attitude, the posture, the very essence of Israel because of who they are because of God. So it describes their relationship to God and that they are blessed and happy because of this relationship. Job 517 uses the term this way. Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves, therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. So blessed there is the word that we are looking for that is linked. linked to Escher. So this term happiness, as we see specifically in this joke passage, is not always used in a way to describe reactions to circumstances or a feeling or just a good mood or good vibes,

but it actually in the Bible denotes closeness to God, an obtaining of wisdom that leads us on level paths. It can also, it can also mean bliss. It can also mean a reaction, but so many times we actually see that it's something much more profound than that in the Bible. It's also interesting to note what the definition said that it is never used to describe God or reference God in the Bible. It always described human. So this state of happiness, as it's described in scripture, seems to be a state that is uniquely human. And maybe, and this is just an alley analysis, this is not an errant analysis. Maybe it's because God cannot draw close to himself. He has no need to obtain wisdom. He has no need to be put on a level path,

and he does not enter into bliss the way that we do. So this is more of a human characteristic in a human action and a human state of being than it is of the eternal God himself. What we can also tell so far from Scripture is that happiness isn't exactly like what we as human beings, even human Christians, say that it is. We describe happiness as superficial as something of this world typically, is something that's fleeting, something that is not to be pursued or focused on. And I don't think that we are wrong to say that. I don't because I've said that a million times in the book that I'm writing. I make the same argument because when we say that we are speaking in the context of our culture, I mean, today in 2019, when people say that

they want to be happy, they're typically talking about a feeling. They're typically talking about their needs being met, being filled up. They're typically talking about serving themselves, serving themselves all the time and getting everything that they've ever wanted. They are often looking to satisfy themselves with things that aren't meant to ultimately satisfy. So I think the Christian is correct in saying, hey, that's not worth all of your time and your energy and your worship. But, well, I think that we are, before I say, but I think that we are right to refute that. I think that we're right to say that circumcuit that circumcuit, and things and people aren't going to satisfy you and that only God will and that we are right

to say that there's a different kind of satisfaction that comes with being a Christian that transcends good and bad circumstances. So I think that we're right to make those criticisms of our culture. But I'm thinking, and this is just something that I've been thinking about over the past few days, maybe a different way for us to think about this and think about this idea of happiness is not that happiness is bad or happiness is always fleeting, but that the world's definition of what happiness is is bad and is wrong. So those who are pursuing happiness as a feeling or out of selfishness are actually not pursuing happiness at all, at least not the definition of happiness that God gives, who is the definer of all things. So maybe Christians shouldn't

be afraid of saying that we do want to be happy, that we are pursuing happiness because according to God's word, happiness is not really as superficial as humans have made it to be. Happiness is walking on a level path in relationship with the Lord and in wisdom. So maybe we should not be worried about wanting even the kind of happiness that we see in the Bible that is exclamatory and is reactive because that too in the context of scripture can be of the Lord. And we can see that as a blessing. So maybe we shouldn't necessarily categorize happiness is bad, but we should redefine the world's definition of happiness to actually be the satisfaction and the contentment that we find in the Lord that is described in the Bible.

And maybe the people who say that they're pursuing happiness, but are actually just pursuing selfishness, aren't pursuing happiness at all. Maybe they're just pursuing lust. Maybe they're just pursuing that fleeting pleasure. Maybe they're just pursuing self-service. And they're calling it happiness, but it's really not happiness at all. According to the Bible, I would say that we can say definitively that what they're chasing after isn't happiness. It's just some kind of self-serving goal that they have. So I think it's a matter of redefining happiness to mean what God says that it means.

Now, there is a different word in the Bible, which is joy, which does seem to have some distinction from happiness because it's not used synonymously. The Hebrew word for joy is not the same as the Hebrew word for happiness. The Hebrew word for joy is Simca. This is used throughout the Old Testament to describe mirth or rejoicing or celebration. Often we see it is used synonymously with gladness. Psalm 4.7 says, you have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound. Proverbs 1028 says, the hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectations. of the wicked parishes. Proverbs 2115 says the exercise of justice is joy for the righteous,

but is tear to the workers of iniquity. That is a great verse. I just want to repeat that again. Proverbs 2115 says, the exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, but is tear to the workers of iniquity. There is another word for gladness that is pronounced tube. I'm pretty sure I am I'm pronouncing that correctly, but anyone out there who is a scholar in Hebrew can let me know. It's pronounced to my research or my resource says. It can be expressed as goodness or beauty or welfare. It denotes an inner joy as in Isaiah 6514. Behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart.

It can also mean, and this is my favorite definition of joy that I found in the Bible, it can also mean the manifest goodness of the Lord. So the goodness of the Lord actually manifesting itself outwardly in our lives. And we see that in Exodus 3319. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now, we could go into Romans 9 because that verse is referenced in Romans 9 and talking about chosenness, but I have an entire episode on predestination that's coming out this summer. So we won't get into that. But here we see, I will make all of my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you, my name, the Lord.

So that is a manifestation of the goodness of the Lord that is used synonymously with joy or with gladness. In the New Testament, the Greek word for joy is Kara, or Kara, but I think it's Kara. which means cheerfulness or gladness. It is associated, it's being associated with being aware of God's grace, which I also think is a really great definition and kind of parallels with the Hebrew definition of the manifestation of the goodness of the Lord or the celebration of the goodness of the Lord. In Greek, this means being aware of God's grace, which you could say is the manifestation of the Lord's goodness in our lives, right? That definition fits. really well, this being aware of God's grace. It fits really well with how it's used in Matthew

210. When speaking of the wise men seeking Jesus, when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. I mean, there's no better manifestation or awareness of God's grace than realizing that you are seeking and finding the Messiah. It can also mean the source of joy or the occasion for joy, which is what we see in that famous verse that most of you probably know, James 1, 2. I don't know how I just mispronounced James, but I did. James 1, 2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of many kinds. So the source of our joy in that particular verse, of course, we know is understood to be Christ.

It can also mean the fruition of joy, of enjoyment, or bliss. Here is an interesting way to use that in Hebrews 12, too. Looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated the right hand of the throne of God. And so in this case, this word joy means the fruition of joy of enjoyment and bliss. And we are talking about the crucifixion and the facing of crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And joy is used here. The fruition, the fullness, the manifestation of joy of enjoyment and bliss.

I mean, that's pretty crazy description of the son of God facing a gruesome death on the cross. But that's what it says, that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. The joy, of course, being seated at the right hand of God and also our redemption. So in the word, particularly in the New Testament, it is very often used as a reaction, as an exclamation. It's really not very dissimilar to how happiness is used. Joy and gladness and rejoicing in the Old Testament is often used as a form of gratitude to God or celebration. Of course, like we said, it denotes a rightness in relationship with God. It's also like happiness. Joy is used to describe a state of bliss and a state of well-being. But I think more importantly, joy, just like happiness, is connected to this connection with God. in the state of being because we are in God. It is connected to understanding the goodness of God. And so really, the place where we derive,

both our happiness and joy comes from God. And so I think it's a little bit of, it's a little bit of a false statement for Christians to say that there is this great big chasm between happiness and joy. I don't think it's wrong for us to think about joy being this, thing that we hold on to because of Christ, no matter what our circumstances are. I don't think that there's anything wrong with that and maybe defining happiness as a more temporal thing because that is, like I said, how we see it manifested in the world.

But it's not really how we see it manifested in the Bible. The things that we see demonize and the things that we see called sin throughout, I would say specifically Proverbs, but also elsewhere, is not really happiness. It's more fleeting pleasure that is outside the context of what God, of what God gives us. And I would say that pleasure is not even wrong. But God gives us pleasure within the proper context in which he says, this is which, this is the context in which you can enjoy this thing, you can enjoy this person, you can enjoy this gift.

anytime pleasure is taken outside of the context of what God gives us. There is going to be pain. There's going to be confusion. There's going to be destruction. Anyone who has sinned can tell you that that's the case. But as far as happiness goes, I don't think that it's necessary for Christians to say, well, happiness is not important. Happiness in the Lord does seem pretty important.

It actually denotes it seems like a rightness with God. It actually denotes a relationship with God that is, that is described by happiness. When Israel is described as happy, it is because they have been saved by the Lord. It's because they have been rescued by the Lord. And joy similarly is because we are in Christ, because we can endure these trials, because we can endure what comes before us, because of our relationship with God. It is God's grace, his goodness, made manifest in our lives.

and that is how people know, that is how people see that we are different, that we are not the same as the world, that we're not pursuing pleasure and pursuing lust and pursuing selfishness in the way that everyone else is, that we are in a state of bliss, we are in a state of gratitude, we are in a state of confidence and calm because of our rightness in our relationship with God. And I think the world is able to see that what they think that they're pursuing is happiness, I think they're able to see when they look at the life of a holy Christian who is

following God, they see that there is a difference there. They see that there is a difference in happiness. So I'm not sure, and this makes me rethink a lot of how I talk about things, because I talk a lot about, you know, happiness not being important. Don't worry about happiness. What I really mean by that is that you're not always going to feel good and that's okay. It's not always about you. It's not always about giving your way. It's actually about something much bigger than that. It's about purpose. It's about sacrifice.

Jesus calls us to self-denial. Jesus asks us to come and die to go follow him. That doesn't necessarily sound like the definition of happiness. But as a matter of fact, the Bible says that it is, that we can be in an extremely happy state when we are in Christ. Now, I don't think that has to follow our definitions of, you know, being smiley and being giddy all the time and pretending that everything is okay. But I do think that it's not quite as different as the steady state of joy as we might have previously thought. And of course, it's important in all things for us to get our definitions of words, to get our definitions of our

terms from the God of Scripture. It's more of just readjusting our perspective on things rather than rather than completely denouncing one thing in favor of the other because we think the world's definition of it is bad, if that makes any sense. Okay, I've gotten a lot of comments about, or I've gotten a lot of questions. I get questions a lot about, okay,

what kind of Bible do you read? What kind of commentaries do you read? Please go listen to last week's podcast. Last week I talked about the commentaries that I use, how to use them, why I think that they're right to use. So please go listen to that. If you are wondering about that, as you guys know, this summer is, well, I guess we are

already in this summer maternity leave, when I have my child, which will be in just a few weeks. I am going to have content coming out for you guys. I'm going to have podcasts coming out every week. A lot of the questions that you guys have, a lot of the suggestions that you guys make for things for us to talk about on this podcast. I am going to be covering this summer. I'm going to be covering predestination. I'm going to be covering women in the church. I'm going to be covering worship music. I am going to be talking to a lot of interesting people. Some of them are Christian. Some of them are not Christian. Some of them are about things that are going on in the church.

Some of them are about things that are going on in politics and the media. And so you're going to get all kinds of diverse content this summer. I'm really excited for you. you guys honestly like I think that you're going to get more benefit a little maybe I don't know if I should say this more benefit out of some of the things that we're talking about this summer than you will on the on the episodes that we have every week that kind of cover the things that are going on especially Wednesday's podcast which covers the news like I just think it's going to be very beneficial because we're also talking about political things we're talking about like Medicare for all we're talking about universal basic income we're talking about the constitution

I think that this summer is going to be a great opportunity to do. for you guys to listen to podcasts and to glean from the research that I have done so you don't have to do it yourself and be prepared for the presidential election because in the presidential election, we're going to be hearing about a lot of different stuff that if you don't know what they're talking about, you're going to be confused and you're going to be dejected, just like you were in 2016 and want to change the channel. But I think that if we approach everything from the Christian worldview, and if we approach everything from a thoughtful perspective and a knowledgeable perspective of what issues are at stake, both politically and culturally,

I would add to that also Christian-wise, religiously, I guess I want to say, but I wanted to say specifically Christian, that I think that things will be a lot more manageable. I think when we can wrap our heads around where culture and where society is moving and why and what our role is as Christians in the midst of that, I think that we will not be quite as discouraged as so many of us were in 2016. I mean, I just think a lot of us were blindsided by all of the drama and the craziness. I'm sure a lot of you still have relationships that are hurt from the 2016 election. I think it can't get much worse than that. Maybe I'm too optimistic. I think it can't get much worse than the 2016 election and just how wild that was. Now we have our wits about us, right?

Like we understand that things are going to get bad things are going to get nasty and we have to be thoughtful Christians and we don't have an option not to care about the things that are going on on earth. Now that doesn't mean that we get too caught up in these things. We don't put our hope in politics. We don't put our satisfaction in politics. We don't, you know, we don't put our hope in any politician, certainly. We don't see a politician as our Messiah or as our savior. We don't get so consumed that we become anxious and that we become depressed. about this kind of stuff because we do have to remember who the God of the universe is and that he's already won and that one day Jesus is going to come back and we're not going to have to worry about politics anymore. And we do have to remember that our primary responsibility in all things is to share the gospel of Christ. But that does not mean. That's not mutually exclusive. I was caring about what's going on on earth. We live in this wonderful, amazing country where we get a say and who leads us and how they lead us. Now it might seem and it might feel like and for good reason we're getting further and further away from being actually connected to the people who represent us in

Washington and even in your state capital and your state legislature. But it's still important for us while we have the right to do so, while we have the freedom to do so, to take that right and freedom seriously. I was talking to a group last week and I said, you know, a lot of people use the verse, render to Caesar. What is Caesar's? Rinder to God's to God's to kind of justify their political apathy. But I don't think that that's what that verse means. I think that we render to Caesar what is Caesars. But in the United States, we have this right and this privilege to get to decide what is actually Cesar's. And as Christians, the Bible speaks very clear to what the role of the government is, which is primarily to punish the wrongdoer and to recognize people's rights. And in that way,

by punishing the wrongdoer and recognizing people's rights, not giving people their rights, but recognizing their God-given rights, they do also defend the vulnerable and the marginalized and the oppressed in that way. But in the United States, like we get a say in that. We get to say what should be Caesars and what should be gods. Our obedience goes to God. Our allegiance goes to God.

Our worship goes to God. The government has a very limited role. And it is the onus is on us to be able to limit the government's power. And so it's really not an option for us not to care. So all that to say, I do think that the content that's coming out this summer is really going to help kind of put us in the right place. Now, there are theological episodes that you are probably not going to agree with. And that's perfectly fine. Unless you believe all the things that I believe, unless you are, you come from a Calvinist background and you are reformed and you've got all

the resources that I do, we might disagree. And I want you to know that's perfectly fine. We might also disagree on political subjects as well. But I hope you'll stick with me. And I hope you'll take it as thoughtful dialogue and as a thoughtful conversation that we can have that will help you, a research that will prompt you to ask questions and to dig into your own research. We're just kind of covering these things as much as we can this summer. Every subject that we're covering is kind of complicated, honestly, and we can only get to so much. But I'm hoping that it is an intellectual thoughter for you, that you are thinking about the subjects that we discussed this summer.

and it actually helps you feel smarter. That's what I love about a good podcast, is that it makes you feel smarter than when you turned it on. A podcast that just kind of drains you, it doesn't help it off. If you feel like that about this podcast, then you shouldn't be listening.

But if you like this podcast, you should keep listening. And also, if you so choose, give me five stars on iTunes. That means a lot to me. I read the reviews. And if you like this podcast, I would love for you to do that.

Okay, that's all the time that we have for today. I will see you. on Wednesday.