Happiness or Happen-ness

Recently, I was reading an excerpt from a sermon of Vance Havner's, where he mentioned this phrase, “happiness or happen-ness”. I've been giving it a lot of thought and come to realise that so much of our happiness is so often 'happen-ness'. Our happiness depends on what happens. We let our circumstances dictate our level of joy.

We know that true joy can only come from the Lord. We can fake happiness on the outside, but real joy in our hearts, can only come from God. And yet we 

let what happens become the joy decider.

We read in the Bible of Paul's trials and the calamites that befell him. And yet,

 he was still able to say in Philippians 1:12,

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

Paul's joy was not dependant on the circumstances in his life. He was able to rejoice because he knew Romans 8:28 held true.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

He knew that what men meant for evil, God would turn to good. And just a side note, it's interesting how often you hear that verse misquoted. Christians will often rattle off the first part, and neglect the part about loving God. That's a requirement of the promise. Loving God. All things DON'T work together for good if you

 are not loving and obeying God.

Paul was able to say in Philippians 4:4, (and from prison mind you)

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

What drives a man, beaten and hurting, sitting in a dark and probably miserably cold and smelly prison, to give praise to God? Joy. True joy, that's what! What the world calls happiness is not what God calls true joy. Paul was content in the lot God had given him and he knew what had happened to him was for the furtherance of the Gospel. 

What faith. What love. What trust.

It's a strange joy that fills our hearts when our eyes are filled with tears. When we don't depend on what happens to bring our joy. When we fully trust the Lord to bring us joy and we don't let our circumstances steal our joy away. 

We don't live in happen-ness, we live in happiness!