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  Happiness, like other emotions, is not something you can obtain, it is something you inhabit. All of us know someone who always appears to be happy regardless of the situation.  I liken that person to be a sociopath.  No one is happy all of the time.   I would call it a façade or mask.  It is acting happy externally but frustrated internally.  Happiness has become a syndrome.   What is a syndrome?  A syndrome is defined as a characteristic combination of opinions, emotions, or behavior.  
     Happiness is marketed like material goods.  Look around and you will see messages of “happiness” on social media, television, sermons, and books.  People are walking away from relationships because they are not happy.   People are walking away from jobs because they are not happy.   Many of you, like me, have heard people say that they want to be with someone who make them happy.  The search for happiness is like a drug.  Many are chasing a feeling that they experienced at the onset of a thing.  Happiness, therefore, is something that can end once it is felt.      
     When your happiness relies on certain conditions, you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment when things fall apart.  All of us have an idea of what happiness looks like.  Happiness to some is never having any problems, laughing all of the time, getting everything we want, and no adversity.   Happiness to others is traveling, having a lot of friends, and being wealthy.   Happiness is the result of something, but joy is despite something.    Many people want to be happy when we should be focused on joy.   
     Joy is rooted in who God is.   It is not fleeting or based on circumstances or possessions.  God wants us to be able to navigate through difficult situations in the absence of happiness while sustaining our joy.   Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds (James 1:2).   Joy endures trials.  Joy brings us peace in the middle of a storm.  Joy is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22).  Happiness is fleeting and fickle.   It can be present one minute and gone the next.    Joy does not leave us when things get hard.