Thanks for joining me. Today I’m sharing a topic that’s been on my heart for many months. This seems like the ideal time to finally put the proverbial pen to paper and write it down. I’m talking about the difference between happiness and joy. Too often we use these words interchangeably. However, the Bible shows us that there is a real and important difference between happiness and joy.
Unhappiness Is Easy
There’s a lot to be unhappy about right now. We are living through unusually hard times. Work looks different. School looks different. Relationships look different. Worship, ministry, connection, and routine all look different and unfamiliar right now.
Unhappiness is easy. And happiness is an easy goal to set–but not an easy goal to achieve. It’s so easy to say, “I just want to be happy…” Or, “I’d be happy if…” (I’m very guilty of the latter.) All too often things come up and get in the way of our happiness. Because happiness is tightly tethered to what is happening around us, happiness often rests on things out of our control.
Given the fallen state of our world and an often engrained sense of entitlement, unhappiness and discontentment can be the state we naturally gravitate toward. Unhappiness is something we commiserate over together. It brings us together, it’s common ground where otherwise there might be none.
I’m sure you’ve seen this happen. A group doesn’t know what to talk about, so they pick a safe topic–something everyone despises. Then one person offers up a terrible experience. The next commiserates and adds his own “one up” on the terribleness. And so it goes. On and on and on.
I call this negative camaraderie. It’s a social trap I truly loathe. But an easy trap to fall into nonetheless.
Unpleasant and Unideal Circumstances
I’ve faced a lot of unpleasant circumstances in the last year. Things that caused grief, pain, fear and anxiety kept coming up. (But don’t they always, and isn’t this true for all of us?) Because of this I’ve spent months simmering on the difference between joy and happiness.
As many of you know I spent many years grappling with cyclical depression and anxiety. I finally allowed God to penetrate that stronghold in my life about five years ago. Since then, I’ve seen a miraculous shift in my life. It’s taken a lot of time to heal and practice living in a state of victory over anxiety and depression, but slowly–this has become a new, normal pattern for me.
Over the last year as obstacles and unwelcome news cropped up I keenly noticed a distinct separation between my happiness and joyfulness. And friends, let me assure you–I’m nothing special. If God can draw this line in my heart, He can draw it in yours too.
The Week I Discovered the Difference Between Happiness and Joy
One instance in particular makes this difference so clear.
If you follow along on Instagram (and you totally should, because then we can be even better friends) you might remember that horrific week I spent in Rapid City getting our AirBnB transitioned to a long-term rental. (If you missed it, you can watch the whole saga in my Instagram Highlights.) Alone with an 18 month old, over the course of the week I was met with a mouse infestation, a huge waste leak in the basement, yellow jackets living in the walls, snakes under the deck, issues with the moving van, and a horrible smell that turned out to be poop stuck in a plunger.
Day after day a new, unpleasant circumstance arose. But every day my heart was calm, unshaken, capable, still fully focused on Christ and able to tell of His goodness. I saw humor in the circumstances and understood on a new level exactly what Proverbs 31:25 can mean about “laughing at the future.” No fear of what terrible situation (or smell) the next day would reveal–only the ability to have joy and peace. Because my joy is no longer harnessed to my happiness.
Let me attest. There is a difference between happiness and joy. In today’s unpleasant circumstances it’s more important than ever to claim victory and claim joy.
The Difference Between Happiness and Joy in the Bible
The Bible tells us that joy is a natural product of a life lived in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Too often, I talk to fellow believers who tell me they are struggling to feel joyful. It’s not happening naturally. Are they doing something wrong in their spiritual walk?
There may be lots of things clogging up our joy tube. For a long time, mine was stuffed with lies. (Read about my journey with lies here.) But part of the problem may have to do with our etymology–they way we understand words.
I think we (we means me, too) too easily interchange the words happy and joy in our thinking and speech. We shouldn’t exchange these words lightly, because there is a difference between the two. Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say.
The Bible has a lot to say about joy. The word “joy” is translated 182 times throughout Scripture. Meanwhile, the word “happy” only shows up 15 times. I believe that Scripture is God-breathed and therefore, each and every word is important and intentional. Since “joy” in used so many times, we can surmise that joy is important to God and He has a lot to tell us about it.
While the Bible doesn’t have a specific verse that explains the difference between happiness and joy, reading the verses where these words appear teaches us to differentiate between the two.
1. The Biggest Difference is Circumstance
The key difference between happiness and joy that I discovered is the circumstances in which each word is used. Happiness is usually used to describe a circumstance, or correlates to an event that has yielded positive results.
Greek and Hebrew words used in Scripture translated into our English “happy” are closely tied to circumstances as well. Their definitions encompass meanings like pleasant, agreeable, prosperous, benefit, blessedness, to make glad, to be glad, pleasing, and fortunate. (You can find out more by using the interlinear on these verses.)
So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.
Jonah 4:6
Joy is God (Spirit) Generated
While happiness is an emotion that can be evoked by good fortune, joy is generated through a much more reliable means: God Himself.
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:7-8
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Gal 5:22-23
Unlike happiness, which rests on a shifting surface of circumstance, joy rests on God. When we trust God’s promises and hope, we can experience His joy in all circumstances. When joy from God is our goal, we can stand in peace and contentment, even during the days that bring tears to our eyes. If happiness is our goal, our bodies and minds will wear out from pursuing something that doesn’t last.
Joy Is Not Restricted to Pleasant Circumstances
While “joy” can be used in happy, pleasant circumstances, its meaning is richer. Typically, if it has to do with an event, it’s an event recognizably brought about by God.
However, in times of unhappiness, joy is still present. This is especially clear in the letters from Paul. Paul often wrote while enduring hardship, or to groups who were facing hardship themselves. Yet his letters are full of verses regarding joy.
A Christian’s ability to experience joy, even amidst a trial is one of our greatest tools of evangelism and pointing the world to God’s goodness and truth.
Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.
2 Cor 7:4
Joy Has an Overflowing Quality
In the Bible words translated to our English word “joy” have meaning that indicate an overflowing quality: to sound a glad alarm, to sing praise, rejoice, exultation, extreme gladness. The type of inner happiness that can’t be held in.
Scripture is full of verses about “shouting for joy,” “singing for joy,” “making a joyful noise.” While happiness can be soaked up quickly, joy exudes and pours out.
Sing for joy to God our strength;
Psalm 81:1
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
Claim Joy
There are other differences (and similarities for that matter) between joy and happiness. But this is a start. My point is this, let’s not make happiness our goal. When we hold that goal up to our very big God–who has saved us, redeemed us, defends us and is going to set all things right again–happiness seems like a small goal. God is not going to guarantee our happiness right now.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Instead He assures us that we can overcome unhappiness with our joy and peace intact. He supplies and resupplies joy for us. Isn’t that a better goal, and a bigger miracle, anyway?
Dig in for yourself. Here are the uses of happy in Scripture and here are the uses of joy. What can you learn? How can you be cultivating a heart of joy, instead of a heart longing for happiness?
