The desire to be happy is a gift from God. If you are anything like me, then you have experienced how the feeling of happiness begins to fade at some time after the gift has been unwrapped. Deep down in our souls, we long for happiness that lasts. We long for joy.
We have all thought that the way to lasting happiness is to get more happiness. Imagine something that makes you happy. Write it down on an imaginary piece of paper. Think of another thing and write that down. Imagine the pile getting bigger and those papers stacked to the heavens. You have more reasons to be happy and more occasions where it fades away. Maybe you have discovered, as I have, that more happiness doesn’t equal lasting joy.
Imagine that stack of paper being the trunk of a tree reaching upward. It is different than the pile of papers, but it cannot produce the fruit of joy no matter how much it wants to have fruit. A tree grows fruit when it focuses on what trees ought to be doing: Tree stuff.
1. Being rooted deep in good soil.
2. Standing up toward the light.
3. Growing through life-giving nutrients.
The tree does not control the wind or insects that pollinate the flowers that turn into fruit. It can only do tree stuff. In Psalm 1:2-3, God describes a person—who loves the Bible and thinks about it all the time—as a tree that will grow fruit in its season. As we follow Jesus the fruit of the Spirit, revealed in Galatians 5:22-23, begins to grow including the fruit of joy.
The challenge for us is to be like trees and not tumbleweeds. Choose to spend time in God’s Word and let your roots grow deep. Commit to walk in the light and fellowship with those who do the same. Trust the Spirit of God to work in you and He will give more joy to you.
More joy in your world will bring more joy to the world.
-Pastor Berney Gorsuch