Once, there was a big boat. There were precisely 276 people on board, and precisely 275 of them were freaking out. They knew the boat was going down. The storm was way too much.
They gave up hope entirely. “We’re totally going to drown!” they said. But then there was one guy who was totally calm. It wasn’t the captain, or some other veteran sailor who’d seen it all. No, all the salty professionals were freaking out too.
So, you wonder: Was this calm guy an idiot? Couldn’t he see the obvious? To not be anxious in the middle of all that, you’d have to lack basic knowledge about how the world works, right?
Turns out the guy—Paul, in the Bible—wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t lack knowledge. No, he was calm because he knew more than everyone else on board. He told them the ship would go down but everyone would survive and be just fine. And so it did, and so they were. (It’s in Acts 27–28).
I tell you this story because in our culture now it’s kind of like we’re all in a big boat, and everyone’s freaking out. Anxiety and anger are so widespread that if you’re not anxious and angry, people will suspect it’s because you’re willfully ignorant of all the Big Issues. You just don’t know, or you don’t care, because if you did, you’d be just as scared and ticked off as they are.
Finding Joy in an Angry World
I’ve noticed people will get angry if I’m not angry enough about the things they happen to be angry about. They think I don’t care. Or they think I’m naive at best. “Don’t you know about this crisis, and that injustice, and this other tragedy?”
But then there it is, this joy thing, and I love how Dallas Willard defined it: Joy is “not a passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well-being.”1 No matter what happens, that sense of well-being is there.
It might seem impossible or even crazy to live this way in a world of anger and anxiety. But I want you to know that it’s possible. And not only that, I want you to know that joy is quite reasonable, in light of reality properly understood. Jesus kept showing His followers that too.
Yes, horrible things happen. Yes, there is great evil in the world. But joy—this sense of well-being—doesn’t come from knowing less. Joy comes from knowing more.
Do You Believe What Jesus Believes?
I believe we lack joy not because we now know too much but because we know too little.
Or we’ve forgotten what we knew.
Think about it: Jesus basically said in John 16:33, “Yes, I know you will have problems. I know. But here’s some additional information that might interest you—something I know but you don’t . . .”
And then He told us to be of good cheer.
God is quite aware of all the suffering and injustice, thank you; but if we believe what Jesus believes, we’ll have a sense of well-being no matter what.
Yes, pain is real. Suffering is real. But in Jesus’ worldview, despair is not the deepest reality. We know it is a fleeting thing. It’s joy that underpins everything. It’s the deepest note that rings through our lives, even in tragedy.
We’ll hurt, we’ll cry, we’ll go through tremendous loss. We might be deeply unhappy. And yet . . . His peace persists.
So yes, there is a “second naivete,” a second simplicity. It’s an innocence and a beautiful, peaceful life we can live in light of what we can know.
Like, say, how this all ends.
Adapted from Life is Hard, God is Good, Let’s Dance by Brant Hansen.
In a modern culture filled with anxiety, depression, and societal clashes, it is not only possible to have a fulfilling, joyful life, but it’s promised to all who follow Jesus. Life is hard, but God is good. And through Him we can start to see the world in a more childlike, humble, and optimistic way.
Life is Hard, God is Good, Let’s Dance is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
- Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2016), 31. ↩︎
Brant Hansenis a nationally syndicated radio host and podcaster ofThe Brant and Sherri Oddcast. He works with CURE International, a worldwide network of hospitals that brings life-changing medical care and the good news of God’s love to children with treatable conditions. Brant lives in South Florida with his wife, Carolyn. You can find out more about the amazing work of CURE at cure.org, and you can follow Brant at Brant Hansen Page on Facebook, and @branthansen on Instagram and Twitter.
