A few nights ago, our family gathered to watch the Pixar animated movie Inside Out. In the movie, viewers are taken inside the mind of a young girl named Riley. Inside of Riley’s head, we meet the emotions influencing her: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. All of the emotions are animated characters with their own sets of strengths and flaws. Joy, a lighthearted optimist, sees it as her personal mission to keep Riley happy, and she tries hard to prevent Sadness from gaining a foothold.
My favorite part of the movie happens when Joy has a startling revelation. She realizes that without Sadness, the little girl whom they inhabit would never have been able to navigate the hardest moments of her life. In that moment, Joy begins to weep.
This is what I know: Happiness weeps. Happiness knows the taste of salt in our tears.
Happiness—genuine happiness—allows space for a person to be sad.
If you are crying today, that doesn’t make you an unhappy person. It actually makes you more like Jesus. You know why? Because real happiness can’t happen apart from knowing that Jesus wept. Real happiness acknowledges that the same God who created the salt in your tears is the very God who bottles every one of them up.
The Bible reminds us that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. But still, we grieve. Happiness doesn’t deny our pain. It holds it gently. Happiness doesn’t ignore the hurt of the world, but it makes a space to sit quietly inside of the ache.
Jennifer Dukes Lee is the author of The Happiness Dare. You can connect with her on Twitter and Instagram at @dukeslee. Take her quiz at www.TheHappinessDare.com and discover what truly makes you happy. This devotion is adapted from The Happiness Dare copyright © 2016 by Jennifer Dukes Lee. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
