I seldom open forwarded videos without context on why I should bother but somehow, I clicked on one and a few seconds into it, the mystery was solved. God wanted me to write another blog entry. Haha

I don’t know the pastor so I don’t know where he is coming from but the main point of his short video was that we should be “masaya” in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. After all, he said, we are told to rejoice and be masaya. I don’t think he mentioned what particular verse he was quoting as there are many “rejoice and be glad” exhortations in different contexts. But then he went on talking how if we are “masaya,” “hindi ka magkakasakit” and “gumagaan ang problema mo.” He told his viewers “huwag maging seryoso sa problema.”

“Masaya” is the Filipino word for “glad” and “joy” but stating it in Filipino gives rise to a theological problem na kailangang seryosohin, pastor. 

When the doctor tells you that your child has only a few months to live,

When your boss fires you on the spot,

When your client runs out on you,

When your spouse leaves you,

When your money in the ATM gets stolen,

Ano ka? Masaya?

It is unnatural to be masaya when these hit us. Imagine doing an Argentina---going out into the streets and celebrating to the point that Messi and company had be airlifted. If we are masaya to bad news, people will call us “buang.” Talagang nabuang-again na. I don’t think we are adding to our testimony to make people want to ask us about the God we serve.  

Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes, and is always dependent on our circumstances. Dire situations do not elicit a happy emotional reaction from us. Our body automatically reacts with sadness, anger, despair, shock, or whatever but not happy. We need to be true to our emotions otherwise “our brain can...go into the fight-or-flight state. This is a physical reaction to stress that sets off a chain of events throughout our bodies. It increases our heart rate, slows digestive functions and makes us feel anxious or depressed.”

The pastor repeatedly said how we should choose to be happy. Nowhere in the Bible does God command us to choose to be happy in our circumstances, but to “be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.” (1 Th 5:16-18, GNB)

We can have joy because we are following God’s commandment.

He also told us to “pray at all times” because we cannot sustain joy outside of prayer. We need supernatural strength to be thankful and joyful.

Joy is not being masaya but it is knowing there’s a reason for what is unfolding. Note that the preposition is “in,” not “for.” He is not asking us to be thankful for the taning or being swindled of our life savings by a trusted friend.

When things don’t make sense from our eye level, He said to “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 let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4, ESV)

We get tested because we have faith (which is hopefully like a mustard seed). This is probably why some people are ang saya-saya. There’s nothing to test kaya parang ang sarap ng buhay.

James says, “you know.” We know this. It’s not breaking news even though it’s heartbreaking. But if we follow God’s command in counting it all joy, we will become steadfast.

Other words for steadfastness are: dedication, loyalty, commitment, devotion, faithfulness, constancy.

When we count it all joy, we become dedicated, loyal, committed, devoted, faithful, and constant with our faith, which glorifies God.

Of course, God being the good God that He is, is not insensitive to our pain which is why He said to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12, ESV)

We are not to be masaya para gumaan ang problema but we are to “rejoice in HOPE” knowing that there is a reason why meron tayong pinagdadaanan. Although sometimes we may never get the answer, we know we can trust God to always know what He’s doing. This is why we can be patient. It’s like watching a three-hour movie and seeing the good guys being destroyed and we just can’t wait for them to fight back to victory because we know there is a happy ending. In the meantime, we need to endure the suspense.

If you think the Bible is nothing but a fairy tale, well, Psychology Today wrote about the difference between happiness and joy, highlighting how the pursuit of happiness can lead to unhappiness, and that finding joy in the worst of circumstances is the better option. Sounds familiar? No, it’s not the “secular” validating the Bible but it’s the secular confirming what God has already told us thousands of years ago. Ang saya-saya to know the Bible stands true and forever. Read it today.