Why Are You So Happy?

July 2024

Silence is good for my soul. The chaos of children and schedules constantly keeping me on the run causes me to crave time alone in silence. It’s hard to hear from the Lord when I can’t even think a complete thought, so quiet time helps me refocus. This month I was given a gift of two hours alone as I drove to pick up one of my kids from a pastors’ kids retreat. I quietly enjoyed the scenery before me, gazing at budding canola fields, mama ducks leading their ducklings across the highway (yikes!), and baby calves running awkwardly in search of watering holes with their families. It was glorious. 

With only 30 minutes left of my drive I decided to pop in some good ol’ 90’s Christian R&B. The wide variety of music I listened to as a teenager makes my own teenagers roll their eyes, so getting to listen to it without the stares made my alone time that much sweeter. I pulled up Spotify and found my “blast from the past” playlist, and shamelessly started to bob my head to the music. Two songs in was when it came on - the song I remember distinctly shaping my teenage years as an evangelist in my school. It was like time stood still as I listened to the lyrics. The fields became a blur as I sped on down the highway, but both my body and mind stood still. As the song came to a close, my fingers sought out the replay icon. And the tears began to fall. 

The song starts with an interaction in a supermarket. As the singer was having all her items rung up at the till, the employee looked at her strangely. As her transaction came to a close, the worker stepped toward her to ask a question, causing her pain to be revealed to the customer. She asked why the singer was smiling, especially on a rainy day. Digging deeper, she asked “What do you know that I don’t know? What’s your secret?”

How many people do we see everyday who are carrying the same burden - just wanting to know how they can find joy in a life filled with sorrow? It was like I skipped backwards in time, to my teenage years, as I felt the weight of these words. “Why are you so happy?” 

The song continued with the singer not knowing where to begin when it came to sharing her “secret,” so she began to ask the employee some questions. Through their conversation it spurred the singer to end the track with a challenge to the listener: the world is watching - what do they see?

The apostle Peter, in his first letter to the believers living across the world, challenged his readers to a similar cause. When the world around you sees you are different, and some may even want to harm you to see if your faith is true or not, they will watch and ask questions. “But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it” (1 Peter 3:14-15, NLT). 

Whether someone lived in the first century, or lives in 2024, the question remains the same: Do you have an answer for someone when they ask you about your source of joy? I wiped tears off my face as I listened to the lyrics because it once again reminded me of my purpose as a follower of Jesus: to share about my source of joy. Why are we so happy? Each of our stories are so different as God has led us through all kinds of circumstances. Whether it was parents who followed Jesus fully, a near-death occurrence that left you coming face-to-face with the concept of eternity, the grace extended to you in the midst of addiction, or another experience altogether, you have (hopefully) accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus and therefore have joy! 

The book of Hebrews has sized me up the last few weeks, revealing where I’ve been sluggish in my faith. Jesus was made perfect by the Father, and was given the title High Priest as he learned “obedience through what he suffered,” and “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (5:8-9, ESV). Because of his role as High Priest, we are encouraged to “hold fast to the hope he set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters […] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf” (6:18-19). THIS is the source of our joy. We have HOPE because Jesus has gone before us, he has given us eternal salvation, and he is the anchor we can hold steadfast. So while we all have times and seasons of enjoying peace and quiet, whether in the midst of quiet or chaos, have we been willing to live by this challenge given to us by Peter? Are we willing to live in step with the Spirit, and ready to give an answer for the hope we have? Are we not only willing, are we actually living it? Don’t let spiritual blindness keep you from sharing why you have joy in Jesus.