Everybody could fill in the blank, "If I just had _____, I would be happy."
When we were little kids, it was a toy. Now it's success or affirmation or a spouse or child or mortgage or certain job.
Christians have to fight against this debilitating discontentment every day. We have a source of ultimate joy and satisfaction that is untouchable by the world or circumstances. Christ is our happiness.
But we still wrestle with living like we believe that.
And so we have to choose to seize joy. It's not just a bubble of emotion that wells up in you unconsciously, as if some people have it and some don't. It's a fight and a seizing.
A hashtag started trending on Twitter this morning. It was: #IWillSmileTodayBecause. Some days, the Twitterverse solemnly acknowledged, you have to make the commitment to smile.
But for Christians, choosing happiness doesn't mean we simply meditate on kittens and pizza and external things that make us happy until we feel it. It means we choose to look to Jesus and find a settled, unstoppable joy in Him.
He saved you. He loves you. He cares for you. He is with you today, every step of the way. He has forgiven you. He is preparing a place for you, a glorious future where you will never have to choose joy because you'll always have it. He is your hope.
That's why I will smile today.