Is Happy an Inside or Outside Job?

Happy. Is it internal or external? Is it something we find in people and things?Happy is he.Happy is who? Here's the the Bible says:

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God (Psalm 146:5).

He who has mercy on the poor, happy is he (Proverbs 14:21).

He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he (Proverbs 16:20).

Happy is he who keeps the law (Proverbs 29:18).

Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves (Romans 14:22).

It’s not quite the happy the world offers – people, experiences, circumstances, things. Don’t get me wrong! These things can produce happiness. For a time. But I have found happy wears off.The joy of the Lord, on the other hand, has staying power.

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Fullness of joy is found in His presence.When my joy factor is linked to my Presence factor, my happiness isn’t subject to what I have or don’t have, what you do or don’t do, how I feel or don’t feel. I used to ride this roller coaster. Way too many dips!True happiness – joy – is found in Him. It is a fact of His faithfulness.There’s a person in my life who is sincerely impossible to please. No matter what I do, I cannot make her the kind of happy that sticks around. The problem is, she’s not happy on the inside. Sometimes the same thing is true of me, or my kids. We make the goal happy, and even when it’s possible, it’s oh so fleeting. The feeling passes and discontentment creeps easily back in.So should happy by the goal? Yes! When our happiness is tied to God and what He holds up as His source for our happiness. I have found tying my happiness to anything else produces a fleeting emotion not a state of being.I love to be happy! But even better than that is an underlying state of contentment. Gratitude. Grace. Joy.That will make a girl happy!Join me at Five Minute Friday where anyone who wants to can join us for encouragement! Read or write with us! I love how her single word for the week slows me down long enough to write for just five minutes about what the Lord shows me. Thanks, Kate. And happy 2-year anniversary!