“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil 4:4 ESV)
Media can overwhelm if we believe that we must follow every rabbit down its hole. Most of us have packed schedules. We may worry about deadlines, find it hard to sleep or get enough exercise. Moreover, we may not be happy, and thus incapable of rejoicing in the Lord at all times.
Augustine wrote in the fifth century, “Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy.” Blaise Pascal, a Christian, French philosopher, and mathematician wrote, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception”. Theologian, J. C. Ryle said, “All men naturally hunger and thirst after happiness.”
We don’t have a choice. Scripture commands us, not just invites us to rejoice. The need and the desire for happiness, designed by God, is built into the GPS of our mind, but many have lost a sensitive ear to hear God calling into our heart. We are tempted to follow many drummers down every path.
Daily we are bombarded with facts, pseudo-facts, fake news, and if you watch TV you’ve just added a myriad of talking heads! Daniel Levitin, the author of The Organized Mind, noted:
According to a 2011 study, on a typical day, we take in the equivalent of about 174 newspapers’ worth of information, five times as much as we did in 1986. As the world’s 21,274 television stations produce some 85,000 hours of original programming every day (by 2003 figures), we watch an average of five hours of television per day.
Are we making it increasingly difficult to hear God’s call to be happy, to rejoice, to praise Him for what he has done and for what he gives us? Many Christians are highly disciplined. They exercise regularly, take time for relationships they value, cultivate kindness and reach out to help others, some exercise their talents and get into the flow of playing an instrument, playing golf, skiing or teaching.
For many Christians, “being happy yields an uneasy guilt. Being holy is something we can do in God’s presence one day a week, but being happy is something we’re more comfortable doing behind his back (which isn’t possible)” 1 Yet Scripture teaches us to be happy before the LORD: “You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters”. (Deuteronomy 12: 12). “May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!” (Psalm 40: 16, NET)
The Bible is full of guidance to bring us to the realization that we may have lost our joy in our relationship with the Lord. In fact over 2,700 verses in the Bible contain words such as joy, happiness, gladness, merriment, pleasure, cheer, laughter, delight, jubilation, feasting, exultation, and celebration. “God makes it clear that seeking happiness through sin is wrong and fruitless. But seeking happiness in him is good and right” 2
In the Old Testament, we find “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD!” (Deuteronomy 33: 29) In the New Covenant Jesus said: “Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven” (Matthew 5: 12, CEV)
Further, Jesus taught why happiness makes total sense: “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10: 20). We need to consider that we may be disobeying this simple command to be happy, thinking that we do not deserve any joy. Faith in the Lord, as well as the happiness it brings comes from hearing the Word, not scanning Facebook, watching TV, or allowing our minds to switch to the sources of information that destroy our peace.
If you are not experiencing happiness in the Lord, you may be missing the abundant life Jesus came to give. Jesus made it very clear that there are other powers at work in the world that work to steal your joy: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. (John 10:10)
I believe our happiness, when radiated is a great witness for the Lord. I agree with Randy Acorn: “Consistently seeking our happiness in Jesus shouts to everyone that God is present and working in the world and that he’ll one day reign over a new universe.” 3 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24)
1 Alcorn, Randy. God’s Promise of Happiness (pp. 2-3). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
2 ibid
3 Ibid