Don’t Be Sad...Be Happy

Is this statement Biblical? I hear some parts of Christianity that paint the picture that you name it and claim it and God will do it. They talk about being positive and good things will come your way. Is the concept true that Christian’s should always be happy? Yes, but no. It is not a joy as the world would define it. The joy we have with the Lord is not the absence of things going bad in our life, but rather the hope we have in Jesus despite the things that go wrong around us. Even though we have that confidence, we are human and experience ups and downs. When it comes to the loss of a believer, we are told "not to mourn as one without hope”. That doesn’t sound like being happy. When Jesus heard that Lazarus had died, we are told that He wept. Being a Christian doesn’t make us into a happy robot, but the joy of the Lord should still be our strength. When things get tough, we should still be able to keep our head up high because we know that we have One that is by our side and will lead us if we let Him. On average, I think that Christians should be more positive than the world because we know that with God all things are possible. When a non-believer hears a doctor tell them that nothing can be done, they have no where to turn. When a believer hears the same diagnosis, we know that God is still able to bring healing, but even if He doesn’t choose physical healing, we have an eternity with God to look forward to... heaven. When we pray for healing or other specific requests, we should not doubt that God is able to accomplish this, but we also must pray, as our Lord did, “Not my will but Yours be done”. Ministers, like Joel Osteen, speak of being positive, happy, and claiming God’s blessings. They even speaks of forgiveness as a means of being set free, but I have rarely heard them speak of repentance and confessing our sins to God that we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness. If we want to have the joy of the Lord in our heart, that is not going to come from our efforts. We must recognize our sins and how it separates us from God. Then through repentance and confession, God cleanses us. Knowing what Christ has done, we walk in the victory that Christ has won for us, for we are powerless to help. Lord, We come before You with a broken heart and confess our sin. Cleanse us and fill our hearts with a deep joy from You. Amen