Day 1: Will the Real Happy Please Stand Up?

Happy the poor in spirit—because theirs is the reign of the heavens. Matthew 5:3 Ylt

Here’s the deal: you are going to be introduced to some real-life stories you’ll surely resonate with in this devotional, as well as some wildly embarrassing ones that I hope you haven’t had to deal with personally! Which means, sometimes you’ll be turning these pages thinking, Mmm hmm, I totally get that. While other times you’ll probably be reading along thinking, This chick ain’t right! and may even find yourself chuckling at the blooper reel chapters in my story. And I’m all for that. I mean it. Sign me up. If you know me at all, you know I’m all about experiencing joy with God and each other in this crazy beautiful journey we call life—in the small moments, the big moments, the quiet moments, the loud moments, the bright moments, the dark moments. You get it. In all the life-moments. However, by the time you’re a few devos deep into this darling (I can say that since I didn’t have anything to do with the design!) pink book, you may find yourself wondering, Why is happiness such a major theme?

So let’s start somewhere super-original and cutting-edge. Yes, I’m talking about the modern and wildly innovative world-wonder known as the dictionary. Good old Webster defines happy as: characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy.1

Though definitions are helpful, my instincts tell me you probably didn’t need one on the concept of happy. Why? Because you are already familiar with it. The word itself immediately conjures up idyllic images or memories in our minds, doesn’t it? Like a toddler in overalls splashing through puddles while gleefully chasing a frog. Or a couple of kindergartners sitting elbow to elbow at a picnic table both wearing gap-toothed grins and holding slices of watermelon bigger than their heads. Or a bright-eyed cheerleader who’s catapulted high in the air with her arms over her head in victory when the home team scores the winning touchdown. Happy. It sounds like fireworks, smells like roasted marshmallows, and feels like cannon-balling into a cold pool on a hot day, right?

What it does not seem to be, to some of us, is allowable for Christians. Surely happy is too based on our circumstances, too emotive, too . . . well, too unspiritual to be an appropriate and consistent state for Christ-followers, right?

Wrong.

Wildly, sadly, distorted-by-religious-Pharisees-for-far-too-long WRONG.

There are actually thirty-seven references to “happy” in the Old Testament and forty-eight in the New Testament. Did you know that there are more than 2,700 passages where terms related to happy—gladness, merriment, pleasure, celebration, cheer, laughter, delight, jubilation and feasting—are used?2 In fact, the Psalms—the book smack-dab in the middle of the Bible and comprised of 150 Old Testament songs3—literally begins with the word happy! See for yourself:

Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked, who don’t go where sinners go, who don’t do what evil people do. They love the Lord’s teachings, and they think about those teachings day and night. They are strong, like a tree planted by a river. The tree produces fruit in season, and its leaves don’t die. Everything they do will succeed. (Ps. 1:1–3 ncv, emphasis mine)

While most of the translations of the Bible render this term as blessed—which admittedly has a more old-school, shiny wooden pew ring to it—super-smart scholarly people who are familiar with the grammar and syntax of original biblical manuscripts (folks like the awesome professors at Denver Seminary who are currently half-dragging me up the steep hill of their doctoral program!) assure us that the term happy is every bit as correct!4

And let’s not stop at the Psalms. Let’s talk about how Jesus Himself used the concept of “happy.” We don’t have to look any further than the Beatitudes—arguably Jesus’ most beloved message—which could accurately be titled “How to Be Happy” since the whole thing technically begins with the word happy as well. Once again, theological experts who’ve immersed themselves in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic of biblical lexicon assert that “happy” (which in scriptural context is about the consistent joy that comes with trusting in God’s faithfulness as opposed to the momentary enjoyment of present circumstances) is a perfectly sound substitutional term for “blessed” or “fortunate” here.5

That means happy is a wonderfully legitimate outward sign of Christians who are walking with God and enjoying all the inward graces He gives us. In other words, happiness is the joyful fruit of someone who is deeply rooted in their relationship with God . . . it’s the outer disposition of a God-lover’s inward reality . . . a covenant “state of being” for His people. Of course, that doesn’t mean we won’t have hard days—frankly, Jesus proclaims that we will most assuredly have hard days (John 16:33), but He also assures us there’s no need to worry because He’ll be with us every step of the way! The bottom line is, happiness isn’t silly or unspiritual for Christ-followers but is actually a sacred, celebratory, and I daresay necessary aspect of our walk of faith. Break out those party poppers, y’all—because happiness isn’t simply a possibility for believers; it’s God’s lavish and oh-so-accessible gift to help us live and love well in a world that’s often less than kind.

My sincere hope is that you’ll find your spiritual happiness increasing as you flip through these pages. God has taught me so much in every moment of life—from the lowest valley to the highest pinnacle. And at this middle-aged point, when I look back and realize that I’ve lived more life than I have life left to enjoy, I can promise you that I’ve never experienced God’s absence. Not once. Whether I was laughing so hard there were tears running down my face or grieving so deeply that I ran out of tears, I can trace His sovereign, steadfast compassion through every single season. I firmly believe you’ll find our Creator-Redeemer to be perfectly faithful and compassionate in the highs and lows of your life, too. So let’s dive into this devotional and run hard toward Jesus together, knowing we’ll inevitably share some pratfalls and belly laughs along the way!

• When’s the last time someone described you as happy?
• Have you ever thought about happiness as being a sacred thing, in both the hard and the good times? Why or why not?
• How can your external disposition better reveal your internal relationship with God?