Lisa Harper - The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World

Copyright 2017 by Lisa Harper

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4336-9193-5

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 158

Subject Heading: HAPPINESS \ JOY AND SORROW \ CHRISTIAN LIFE

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Also used: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ( esv ). ESV Permanent Text Edition (2016). Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. New English Translation ( net ), NET Bible copyright 19962006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com. All rights reserved. New Century Version ( ncv ), copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Youngs Literal Translation ( ylt ) by Public Domain. Living Bible ( tlb ), copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Message ( msg ), copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. New American Standard Bible ( nasb ), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. New International Version ( niv ), Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Good News Translation ( gnt ), copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. New Life Version ( nlv ), copyright 1969 by Christian Literature International. Complete Jewish Bible ( cjb), copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved. New Revised Standard Version ( nrsv ), copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Common English Bible ( ceb ), copyright 2011 by Common English Bible. New King James Version ( nkjv ), copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Voice ( voice ), copyright 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice translation 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. All rights reserved. New Living Translation ( nlt ), copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

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Cover photos by Mandy Johnson

To my daughter, Melissa Price Harper, whoother than my salvationis the greatest gift God has lavished me with and whose happy giggle makes my whole world go round.

Acknowledgments

LATE BISHOP LESSLIE NEWBIGIN ASSERTED COMMUNITY was one of the most effective hermeneutics of the gospelin other words, that we see Jesus more clearly through the lens of the other Christ-followers we get to rub shoulders with. And that has certainly been my experience. Im indebted to an incredible community of family, friends, and colleagues who helped breathe life into this project.

Chief among them is my very dear friend Christine Caine, who would surely drag me toward Jesus if I got discouraged and attempted to tap out on this journey of faith!

Im also beyond grateful for Lisa Jackson, my literary agent/coach/confidant, who champions me with way more grace than I deserve.

I cant overstate how awesome and riddled with integrity and creativity the entire publishing team at LifeWay is, but I must give special kudos to Heather Nunn, my dedicated-far-beyond-the-call-of-duty editor, and Jennifer Lyell, the head honcho of B&H and the godliest gambler I know because she definitely took a chance on me!

Im also deeply grateful for the constancy of two Bible study sisterhoods that I get to do life with on Tuesdays at Belles house and Wednesdays at my home church, Grace Chapel.

And last but certainly not least, Im truly blessed to have a loving, patient, and supportive family who never complains about my penchant for mining the colorful hills of our genealogy for storytelling jewels!

Foreword

I LOVE LISA HARPER. SHE IS A GIFT TO THE BODY OF Christ and to me. Over the years, we have laughed togetherand cried togethera lot. She is one of my closest confidantssomeone I know I can talk to openly and trust with the depths of my heart. I love how she always directs me to Gods Word, His love, and His grace, and being around her simply makes me a happier person.

I first met Lisa when we were both scheduled to speak at a womens conference. I cried and laughed throughout her message and knew we were destined to be forever friends. As I got to know her and grew to love her, her life story unfolded. She was a brilliant Bible teacher and great lover of people who served faithfully in ministry all her adult lifebut there was one goal she had yet to achieve. She wanted to be a mom, and repeated adoption opportunities had fallen through. Despite her heartache, I was always aware that Lisa was still happy and in love with Jesus! She was happy even though her life was less than perfect and her deep yearning for a child was unfulfilled. Thats because her happiness was rooted in something far deeper than circumstances going her way. She had learned a deep truth that anchored her life and ministry.

That powerful truth is what she uncovers in The Sacrament of Happy .

The Sacrament of Happy is one more reflection of her deeply intimate relationship with Godand her powerful insight into His character. Page after page, she walks us into deeper understanding and acceptance of His passionate desire for all of us to live happy. Im so thankful God has spoken this message through her to us because its not something we all know how to walk in. In fact, many of us wonder if it is even biblical for Christians to be happy. It is no accident that you are holding this book in your hand; you are about to discover one of the greatest keys to true freedom you could ever have.

Learning to live happy has been a critical part of my own journey to freedom because I didnt grow up around very happy people. I grew up the daughter of Greek immigrantsin a culture of fatalists. My Greek family and extended community believed that no matter how bad things are, they can always grow worse. Speaking out of this mentality, my mother always thought FIRST of the worst possible scenario that could happen...

Christina, are you wearing clean underwear? You dont want to be in an accident and not have clean underwear on. (Despite the fact I actually did have a skiing accident once and had to go to the hospital not wearing any underwear under my base layer is beside the point. If Id had any on, surely they would have been clean.)

My mother truly believed...

• You cant have your cakeand eat it too.
• If its too good to be truethen it is.
• If it can go wrongit will.
• Everything that goes upmust come down.
• Keep both feet on the groundand your head out of the clouds.
• Dont count your chickensuntil they hatch.

Her motto was to live safe and risk-freeand you may experience happiness occasionally, but dont expect to very often. After all, life is hard, suffering is everywhere, and hopes and dreams are shattered. Christine, expect disappointment and you will never be disappointed. Why she was unhappy was understandablebut staying unhappy wasnt. Long before I was born, she and my father fled Egypt following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Their traumatic escape after the coup to find safety in Australia led to living with a sense of fear and anxiety, a sense of sadness and lossand it never left them. Like so many of the families I grew up with in our Greek community and church, they never knew happinessand they wore their sadness like a badge of honor.