Don't Cry Anymore

   Most Christians understand (intellectually, at least) that there is a distinction between happiness and joy.  Joy is somehow a spiritual characteristic and happiness is carnal.
   The Cathedral Quartet put it most dramatically in the song Romans 8:28:
       Now Satan can rob me of my happiness
       But he can't take away my joy
   But most people would be hard pressed to give a clear example of the distinction.
   In 1992, I was driving through a run-down neighborhood.  I passed a little girl who was sitting on the curb with her head in her hands.  This song immediately came to me:

Don't Cry Anymore

       Don't Cry Anymore,
       Everything will be all right.
       Jesus loves you,
       And He wants you to know,
       That you're special to HIm.

       So dry your tears,
       And give your fears to Him.
       __ ___ ____ ___
       And let the healing begin.


   The song came to me as fast as I could write it down -- with the exception of the one missing line.  What was missing?  What else do we have to do to enable God's healing?  I could not come up with an answer.
   About a week or two weeks later, I was almost killed in a car wreck.  I was in the hospital for 21 days.  I was in a lot of pain most of that time and there had been a significant possibility that I might lose a leg.  My personal foundational scripture has always been Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to His purposes."  Naturally, I was asking fervently, "WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED TO ME?" and "How does THIS work to my good?"
   Immediately - when I asked, "Why..." - the missing line in the song came to me:
       "Release your JOY
       "And let the healing begin!"
   The physical healing process took over a year.  But as far as I was concerned, I was spiritually healed immediately.  I have rarely felt as close to God as I did during those 21 days.  I was certainly NOT happy.  But I was never without joy.
   The Apostle Paul wrote letters to many of the churches while he was in prison in Rome. On several occasions he attempted to convey the dramatic distinction between happiness and joy.
   He was so excited by the joy of his relationship with God that forgot where he was and said, "I wish everybody could be just like I am."  [dramatic pause...]  "Oh... Except for these leg irons and this prison cell."
   I could honestly say, "I wish everyone could be just like me."  "Oh... Except for the crushed leg and all the pain and stuff..."
   The dramatic point that the Lord was trying to make was that joy comes first!  Our natural assumption is that the joy comes because of the healing.  But, that's not joy - that's happiness.  Joy comes straight from the Lord, regardless of the situation.  What God was saying was that Joy has to ALREADY BE THERE for healing to take place!

     Don't Cry Anymore,
     Everything will be all right.
     Jesus loves you,
     And He wants you to know,
     That you're special to HIm.

     So dry your tears,
     And give your fears to Him.
     RELEASE YOUR JOY!
     And let the healing begin.


     Don't Cry Anymore,
     Everything will be all right.
     Jesus loves you,
     And He wants you to know,
     That you're precious to HIm.