27
Jun '25

July 2025 Pastor’s Corner — Joy in the Mess

27
Jun '25

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard 

Happiness was never mine to hold 

Careful child, light the fuse and get away 

‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks

— The Fray, “Happiness”
 
The preamble to the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  If there’s any part of that statement we’ve taken more seriously than any other is the pursuit of happiness.  We are a people who strive for happiness any where and any way we can get it.  The problem, though, as hints the song from which the quote above is taken, is that that happiness is inherently and intrinsically fleeting.  It comes and goes, sometimes with a change in our circumstances, sometimes completely randomly.  The more we chase happiness, the more elusive it seems to become.  We are all pursuing happiness, but few seem to find it.
 

I think this is because we’ve confused and conflated happiness and joy.  Happiness is a fleeting emotional experience.  Joy is a deeper state of being.  We pursue happiness because it’s an easier objective, something that seems like it’s more within our control.  But what we are actually yearning for is joy.  Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  While it certainly has an emotional component, joy is something that persists no matter our circumstances.  No matter how messy life gets, joy persists in our hearts and our souls.  It doesn’t ignore the sad, the bad, the hurtful, the wrongs of life but recognizes that there’s more to this life and to our faith than what is happening in this moment or season.

This summer we’re working our way through the book of Philippians.  It’s a letter written to encourage a group of Christians to find joy in the midst of the messiness of their lives and their circumstances.  It was written by a guy who was in a pretty messy place in his life at the time himself.  And yet, the resounding theme is rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.

Not a “pretend the messiness doesn’t exist” naïve joy, but a joy that is grounded in something deeper than our life circumstances.  A joy grounded in our salvation in Jesus Christ.  A joy that knows there is nothing we will go through or endure that our Savior did not endure Himself.  A joy that knows that there is no greater joy than to know and be known by Christ as deeply and thoroughly as possible.

Happiness says that it will come when the mess gets cleaned up.  Joy comes in the midst of the mess.  As we said above, joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  As we pursue Jesus Christ, the seeds of joy are planted in our soul.  As we grow in grace and truth, faith grows those seeds so that even in the messiness, when life goes sideways, through the hurt and pain, a joy invincible is nurtured and developed.  This kind of joy doesn’t appear magically overnight, but rather through a lifetime of faithful trust in Jesus Christ.

There’s nothing wrong with being happy, as long as we recognize that happiness isn’t an end unto itself.  Happiness understood rightly should be an expression of the joy we have in our salvation.  May God nurture a joy in your soul that surpasses understanding, a joy born of gratitude for our salvation in Jesus Christ and the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and souls.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4:4-7

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison