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 A few years ago Canadian writer Mike Mason (author of The Mystery of Marriage, The Gospel According to Job, etc.) launched what he called "an experiment in joy": he made up his mind to be joyful in the Lord every day for ninety days. A moody person by nature, for him this was a radical experiment that changed his life. Throughout the ninety days he kept a journal, which eventually became a book on joy entitled Champagne for the Soul.
What follows is part of a series of ten excerpts from that book (now in a new edition by Regent College Publishing, available through Amazon.ca).
All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15
Most people have at least one big problem standing in the way of their happiness. What is it for you? A chronic illness? A troubled marriage? No marriage? Wild kids? Financial worries? A crummy job? Probably you think that if only you could solve this one problem (and maybe a few others too), then you'd be happy. Right?
Wrong. If you managed to solve your one big problem, another would rush in to take its place. Then another and another. This is how it goes with problems. There's no end to them. The real problem is that you think you cannot be happy as long as you have a problem. You'll always have problems; therefore you'll never be happy.
The solution to this pitiful dilemma is easy: First become happy, and then you'll be able to handle your problems. Happiness holds tremendous power for creating good. Rather than thinking that you cannot rejoice because of all that's wrong, take hold of joy to celebrate all that's right, and so overcome the wrong. Who benefits from your frowns and your artificial smiles? Think of all the praise you've withheld from God because you cannot quite bring yourself to believe that a gracious and loving heavenly Father wants you, His little child, to lift your face to the light and be happy with Him, starting now.
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But so many terrible things have happened to me, you groan. I need to work through all this before I can be happy. No, this is a lie. The devil would like to keep you working all your life and never have a moment's contentment. The time to get off the treadmill is now. Christian life is eternal life, and the eternal starts now. Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). If you're unhappy now, don't fret or feel guilty about it. Guilt and worry only perpetuate misery. Instead, be happy. Change your mind about the outrageous impracticality of this advice. If the Bible says Rejoice always, there must be something to it.
But you object: I can't be happy, because I'm sick, or, I can't be happy, because my husband has left me, or, I can't be happy, because I'm sad. Don't you understand? Happiness is the very weapon you need surmount all these conditions. Happiness doesn't come to those who sit around waiting until life gets better. Happiness comes to those who grab hold of its proffered hand in order to rise up and conquer their struggles.
The one prerequisite for happiness is the acceptance of whatever is. Am I over tired? Fine. Sick? Very well, then. Unemployed? Okay, I'll work with that. To accept what is doesn't mean I do not try to change it. All change, however, begins with acceptance. I cannot change or heal what I do not acknowledge.
We're so sure we'd be happy if only we could get free of our troubles, but going through life without troubles is not an option. While trouble-free times may come, at best they endure briefly, and they may even create a false sense of security. As it turns out, being happy has nothing to do with having trouble or not having it. Rather it's one's attitude toward trouble that makes all the difference.
Life is full of problems. Learn to be happy in spite of the problems, because they aren't going away. Yes, many will go away, but only to be replaced by other problems. Be happy with the problems you have, because the ones that are coming may be worse. Meanwhile the feast of life has been prepared just for you. Sit down and enjoy.
November 29/2007
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