We’ve all done it.

We go out with our friends, we laugh and smile, we make jokes and complain about little things and post pictures on our Instagram of our fabulously wonderful life. But on the inside, our hearts squeeze with the hurt, our souls lay scarred and hidden behind the facade of “happy,” and we’re not happy. But is that really what God wants for us?

When faced with the hypocritical actions of the Jewish leaders, Jesus warned, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” God’s not interested in you faking happiness: He doesn’t want you to put on the mask of a happy face. So, does that mean he wants us to be and look miserable and unhappy?

Absolutely not! Philippians 4:14 tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” If it were not possible for us to find joy always, God would never command us to do so. But how do we stop putting on a happy face and find true joy — the kind of happiness you can have in front of people and when you’re alone?

1. Trust. Psalms 5:11 says, “But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee.” When we refuse to live in real joy, it’s often because we don’t trust that God knows better than we do what is best for our life. It’s very easy to complain when we don’t get what we want or accept that God’s not giving us what we want because it’s not good for us. We have to put our trust in Him though to have true happiness and we have to know that God’s ideas have been, are now, and always will be far more perfect than our ideas of how our life should go. Can you let go enough to let God handle the hard stuff that comes up? He wants to defend your joy! You only have to trust that He can. 
2. Pray. You must have a regular prayer life in order to be happy. In Psalms 16:11, we find, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Fullness means, “filled to capacity” according to Google. That means that when we are in God’s presence, we can reach our maximum capacity of happiness. Have you ever seen a groom’s face when his bride is walking down the aisle? I know that the bride really glows on her wedding day, but if you look at her beloved’s face the moment he says that woman he’s ready to give his everything to you see a happiness that’s so full and overflowing that it shines right through his face completely naturally. That’s the kind of happiness available to us in the presence of our God. We come into His presence in the throne room through prayer. Talk to Him! Prayer doesn’t have to be fancy and it doesn’t have to be long every time. He wants to hear what’s bothering you, He wants to hear your needs, He wants to meet your desires. Jesus tells us in John 16:24, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” Prayers lead to answered prayers; answered prayers lead to full joy; full joy leads to never having to fake happy again.
3. Read. Psalms 119:2 states, “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” The word blessed here comes from the word “esher” which means (wait for it) HAPPY. Happy are the people who keep His testimonies — aka the Word — and that seek Him with the whole heart. You can’t obey something that you’ve never known. If you want to have a permanent, real happy face you have to read God’s Word. You have to read it — every day! Think of it this way: if you were going to have a good relationship with your best friend, would you be able to only speak to your friend but never, ever let your friend speak to you? That’s how we approach our relationship with God though! We’ll speak to him in prayer all we want, especially when we face trouble, but we never go looking at what He has to say to us. We can never have joy without hearing what He, the creator of joy, has to say to us.
4. Choose. You have to choose to live holy. You cannot live each day making choices that are bad for you and still expect good results. Sin will weigh your spirit down past guilt, past shame, past anger, past sadness, past depression. “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. ” says Psalms 32:11.  It’s only in righteousness and uprightness that we’re able to experience the joy God wants for us. Happiness is a direct byproduct of holiness. We cannot live in fear of our deepest, darkest sins and secrets coming out into the public (which they almost always do): we have to choose to be holy, real Christians not just in words but also in action. We have to confess our sins regularly to God and ask forgiveness from those we hurt regularly as well. It’s required for true happiness.
5. Serve. Romans 12:10-13 advises us, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” A particular woman spent much of her life convincing herself that she was suffering from diseases, particularly heart failure, even though she was healthy. She would suffer setbacks and episodes when things weren’t going her way or visitors came to see her that she didn’t necessarily want to see. She remained bedridden for decades convincing herself that she could do no more. There were a few years, however, when she was truly happy and revealed God’s joy in her life: during these few years she served faithfully as a nurse at war. You see, she believed all her life that God had called her to serve as a nurse and she excelled greatly at her calling: it brought her accomplishment. Her ideas on medical care and treatment of patients forever changed the role of nursing. But she wasted decades of her very long life causing herself pain when she was not serving in the capacity God had in mind for her. You know her as Florence Nightingale. We can never be truly happy if we’re not serving others in the way God has called us to.

It’s entirely possible to never put on that fake happy face again. God wants you free to experience true joy through His Spirit and desires so much for you to not use a front for your family and friends. Time’s are tough, but the Holy Spirit is much stronger than any experience you may face. Choose joy today and take off that happy face.

Love, Meghan