In the late 1980s, many of us, who were alive so long ago, were singing the lyrics of a Grammy-award winning song entitled Don’t Worry Be Happy. Throughout the tune, Bobby McFerrin repeats the phrase “In every life we have some Trouble, but when you worry you make it double/Don’t worry Be Happy.” And In 2014, we were clapping along with Pharrell Williams’ song and his encouragement to Be Happy. These songs commonly placed a pep in our step and perhaps a smile on our face as we were heartened to place our worries aside and find the positive aspects in life.
In Scripture, passages like Luke 12:22 inspire us to not worry; however, unlike the songs mentioned above, God does not say Be Happy. Instead, as I share in Here Comes Trouble, He guarantees in the passage of John 16:33 that troubles will occur. “I have told you these things so that [in me] you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It’s how we approach these uncomfortable seasons of being Out of Sync and Wintering that I ask you to consider today while focusing on the specific words “in me.”
In her book Wintering, Katherine May offers this perspective, “We seem to be living in an age when we’re bombarded with entreaties to Be Happy, but we’re suffering from an avalanche of depression. We’re urged to stop sweating the small stuff, yet we’re chronically anxious. I often wonder if these are just normal feelings that become monstrous when they’re denied.” While I agree with her that to Be Happy all the time is not normal, even a flourishing life has its highs and lows, and that unhappiness is an “emotion to be respected, if not savored,” I find myself wanting to share with her an additional message. She’s missing the most vital aspect of normalizing unhappiness that we find in the message of John 16:33—those two little words “in me.”
It’s only “in Jesus” that we find a peace that passes all understanding. It’s only “in Jesus” that we are able to cast our worries aside in Holy Confidence that He has a greater purpose to the season we are experiencing. May alludes to the peace she found while sitting in a chapel one day, but she’s missing the detail that it’s His presence that provides that peace. Without His presence we can’t muster up the gumption to Be Happy in hard and unpleasant moments. May emphasizes this heartfelt need for Jesus when she shares, “This is where we are now, endlessly cheerleading ourselves into positivity while erasing the dirty underside of real life. I always read brutality in those messages: they offer next to nothing. There are days when I can say with great certainty that I am not strong enough to manage. And what if I can’t hang on in there? What then? These people might as well be leaning into my face, shouting, Cope! Cope! Cope! while spraying perfume into the air to make it all seem nice.”
To answer her question of “What then?,” I offer her (and all of us) the best answer possible—to embrace the invitation of those two simple words “in me.” In Jesus we can Be Happy, in Him we can endure the hardship, and with the Holy Spirit, we can cultivate both a Habit of Growthand a Habit of Resilience, allowing Him to walk with us through the season, not denying that it exists. We may not want to linger in this season as if we are taking in a view of Alberta’s Moraine Lake; however, there is an unexplainable peace, if not happiness, that can be discovered when we allow ourselves to be grounded in the faithful presence of Jesus.
Repeatedly, I will offer that a flourishing life does not exist without hardship, without seasons of doubt and uncertainty, but it’s been my personal experience that when I Pre-Decide to place my focus in Him rather than the circumstances themselves, He allows me to Be Happy. It may not come attached with a smile on my face and a happy jingle reverberating off my lips, but it does come with a calming peace and a hope that there is a better tomorrow.
If you have experienced a time when someone’s message to Be Happy fell short, would you consider sharing in the comments below how God walked you through this period in your life?
References:
May, K. (2020). Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times. [Kindle version]. Riverhead Books.
McFerrin, B. (1988). Don’t worry be happy. [Song]. On Simple Pleasures. Manhattan Records.
Williams, P. (2013). Happy. [Song]. On GIRL. Back Lot Music.
Flourishing @ Life 
Julie – This is absolutely beautiful. And what is MORE beautiful is that YOU have modeled this for everyone around you for years. You have positively impacted so many – and count me among them! Thank you.
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This is a very insightful article. With everything going on in today’s world, everyone thinks they have to be happy and have their life figured out at all times. That’s where the world tries to attack us, but God tells us that there will be times of struggle and times that we won’t understand what he’s doing. When we stick to his word and we don’t allow our anxiety or depression to overtake us, we can understand that it’s not about being happy all the time but being even keel, finding peace in God and trusting in Him, not ourselves.
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Dr. Powell! This an amazing article to read. What is amazing about this article is that you have demonstrated this to your students. There will be times when we are happy, but there are times when we are sad. There may times when we experience anxiety or depression, we can pray to God and his prayer will bring us happiness. Thank you so much.
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I think this article is very intuitive in the fact that we do not have to be happy all the time. When we follow God’s word and trust that everything that happens to us happens for a reason then we should not worry about the struggles we are going through because even God said that we would have times where we struggle.
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I really enjoyed listening to your support from the Bible that being happy isn’t about how we feel all of the time. There is a much deeper meaning to life than just simply being happy. Being happy is about representing God and his kingdom hoping that people will believe as well. As I was reading this I was reminded that we (our selfish ways) must decrease and he must increase. This will ultimately lead to happiness and fulfillment in our lives. We all have that feeling that we are living on the earth against all odds for a bigger purpose other than ourselves.
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I love the quote about happiness actually being unexplainable peace. It is so easy to do everything we can to create happiness in our lives when, in reality, happiness is short-lived. I think that the “happiness” that everyone is looking for is the joy from the Lord, and that joy comes from being “in him” as you stated. People say, “don’t worry about it,” but that is not in our human nature, and the only way that we can do that is through the Lord. I love how the Bible does not say that everything will be perfect, but, as you said, He guarantees in the passage of John 16:33 that troubles will occur.
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Indeed, the idea of happiness is over-promoted in today’s society and media. All we see is people on yachts, beaches, or parties living the life that only some of us could dream of. As pointed out, music does as well. The issue here is not actually the happiness, but the desire and chase for it. When your brain focuses on dopamine as the pinnacle of achievement, less and less dopamine is satisfactory. Dopamine reverts to cortisol (the stress hormone) if not controlled properly. The best way of reducing cortisol is eliminating it through positive stress activity such as working out or other forms of achievement. Interestingly enough, these activities also increase the amount of serotonin the body secretes, which promotes peace and rest. I would propose that, instead of focusing on happiness or excitement itself, to chase the feeling of trust in oneself and a pride of achievement. This promotes gratitude and peace in life instead of riding the highs and lows of another exciting experience. As a side effect, life gets better when you work on it and happiness is obtained as a benefit, not a reward.
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