When my kids were growing up, they enjoyed watching the Ren and Stimpy cartoon show. The show was incredibly dumb, incredibly annoying, and incredibly addicting. Countless times, the show sucked me into watching it with my kids. And I laughed – I’m kind of ashamed of being entertained by such inane dialog.
The “Happy Happy Joy Joy” song was first heard in the sixth episode of the first series of “Ren and Stimpy” and is the 78th greatest moment in Nicktoon’s history. I’m not sure what this implies about our great nation’s people, but it’s probably best not to research this.
Happy is Good, but joy is Better
Being happy is healthy. We all like to be around happy people, except in the morning. 😉 Happiness is a good characteristic for us to develop, but it is not an essential trait for Christians. So what is? For a believer in Jesus, a consistent element is joy. Christians are joyful people. We are full of joy. How can we not be when the Holy Spirit lives within us (John 14:26)? How can we not sing, “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy?” Well, maybe that’s not the best song for us to sing.
Happiness tends to be based on what happens. If good things happen, then we’re happy, but when the travails of life fall upon us, it is our joy that distinguishes us from the world. We read in James 1:2-3, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” And Jesus said, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (Luke 6:23)
Crushed to a Single Ember
There are times in most of our lives when our joy may be crushed to a single ember. We may search within ourselves and not find the joy that God imparted to us. In those times, we should pray as the Psalmist wrote in Psalms 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.“
Inexpressible Joy
God loves us (Romans 5:8). Let us be as the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Peter to write, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” (1 Peter 1:8)
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