Living in Joy

When our founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence, they identified three inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Perhaps they should have aimed a bit higher with the last one.  Why not “the pursuit of joy”?  We sometimes talk about the difference between happiness and joy.  Happiness is usually more fleeting.  It’s based on our circumstances and our expectations being met.  Joy, on the other hand, runs much deeper.  Joy is a state of being that we live in.

I suppose then, that by definition, you can’t really pursue joy.  Joy is not something you acquire as much as the result of a deep, abiding truth: we belong to God and nothing can change that.  Since joy springs from an unchangeable truth, it remains even when happiness is fleeting.  Joy survives even in the midst of pain and suffering where happiness fades.  Go ahead and pursue happiness this week.  It’s your inalienable right.  But if you fail to catch it or it gets away from you, be assured that there is something greater that you will never lose: joy.  As God’s children, joy actually pursues us.