Happiness in the Chaos

This episode is "Happiness in the Chaos", and we are so glad you're here.

This Week's Challenge
Our challenge this week is simple: no matter what season you're in—whether it's one of weeping, laughter, mourning or joy—we encourage you to add a whole lot more dancing to your week!

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Episode 95 - Happiness in the Chaos

Cydni: [00:00:00] this is Cydni 

Sher: and I'm Sher. And each week we get together to share with you a message of hope.

Cydni: It is through our own study and our personal experiences that we offer the reminder to not only seek the light, 

Sher: but be the light. You can find peace and there is hope

Cydni: and as long as one of us is slightly caffeinated, there will be laughter. 

Sher: Today's episode is happiness in the chaos. 

Cydni: And we're so glad you are here 

Sher: Today Cydni we're gonna talk about happiness in the chaos. how do you feel about that? 

Cydni: I feel really happy about this And it's because it's a topic that just cannot be talked about too much. It's that old time saying about if you want to be happy, lower your expectations. No lower. Lower still. Keep going.

Very low. And that's the key to happiness, but even still there's going to [00:01:00] be chaos, even if you have no expectations at all. So it's good that we talk about this. But I did find this thanks to Google and a small church post and it says here's what Paul did in the storm That could help with ours. Number one for us Study yourself in God's promises. T take it one day at a time. O, orient yourself through self care. R, refuse to give into M, make space to serve and connect. So then I thought, okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to do our own for chaos, but you have to say whatever comes to your head first. And I did, I'm going to share. I legitimately, truly, whatever came to my head, I wrote it down. 

Sher: I can do this game. You ready? C. Caffeine. H. Hot pockets. 

Cydni: A. Acid. Stop it. It came to my head first. O. Orange juice. S. Salsa and [00:02:00] chips. I don't even eat Hot Pockets, but I just felt like someone out there probably really loves Hot Pockets. Like I love Taco Bell.. This like nice church did a sweet little job with storm. And then I did my chaos list and I thought mine, I mean, bless them, but mine's better. Yours is definitely better. It's real. That's what I got for today's episode. Now I will turn the time over to you. I don't know where to go from there. You can't top your advice. Like what else do you need? Microwaved hot pocket, delicious. 

Sher: Let's put all of that in your bag and then let's move on. As Cydni has clearly explained to us, life is full of challenges and obviously chaos. But despite all of our trials, we can still pursue happiness. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1 through 8, it says, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to weep and a [00:03:00] time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace. 

Cydni: Could you do that again in a rap? 

Sher: Yes, that's in tomorrow's episode. you know, before we tie this in to where I was going with this, I do have one question about it. , I do not get this part. A time to mourn and a time to dance. I wouldn't have put dance opposite of mourn. What would you put? 

Cydni: honestly, I'm going to trust him on this one because it makes sense to me in my head. It does? Yeah, because like if you think about when they mourned, they'd like break apart their clothes and gnashing of teeth and they'd like move around all sad. The louder you mourned. That person was loved more, you know, like we still do that today. It's a tradition that's lasted. The louder you mourn, then the more that person was loved. And so with that, it makes sense. 

Sher: It does not make any sense. You literally just described an ugly dance.

Cydni: I'm going to take that personally because I was dancing while I talked, and I feel like you were personally [00:04:00] attacking my moves. 

Sher: Okay, but wait. The opposite of mourn would be like happy or joy or something like that to me, in my brain, and dancing, like if I were to dance, that would make others mourn. So that does not fit for me. 

Cydni: Listen, sometimes you're sad and sometimes you got to dance and sometimes you got to go to the grocery store and sometimes you got to dance. Sometimes it's podcasting time and sometimes you just got to dance. 

Sher: But Cydni can do both in the basement right now. 

Cydni: At the same time. I think that when this was written, maybe as a child he wanted to be a dancer and his Dad didn't let him.

He was like, no, go read the word of God and then write the word of God and go plant something so he could pluck it later in the proper season. And he was like, deep down, just wanted to dance. He added that 

Sher: it's like a mighty Python, but father, I want to sing. He just wants to dance. Yes. Oh, right. I understand that. So that's why you should respect the dance. I do respect the dance. That's why for me would not be the opposite of mourn because I respect it. [00:05:00] My dancing would be mournful. 

Cydni: And I just want to make it clear that sometimes you do have to mourn and sometimes you got to throw a hot pocket in the microwave and sip some Mountain Dew and you got to dance.

Sher: Right. All right. the point of me reading that was that God has promised us in this life that we're going to get a little bit of everything. There's going to be good times and bad times, sad times, happy times, times to mourn and times to dance. And that's what we have been promised. So even though we would like, I should say, I would like to sell through life being perfectly safe and happy and nothing bad ever happening, that is not. How life is intended to work. 

Cydni: That's a really good point and it reminds me of a thought I was listening to this preacher throw down the word of God and he said something and it took me on a journey in my head because he just was saying that if you believe in a God or you believe your God is someone who wants you to be happy all of the time, you're going to find [00:06:00] yourself disappointed in your life because here you think God wants you to be happy all the time, but surprise, surprise, you're not happy all the time. And I was thinking that is such a interesting thought to really ponder on for a moment, because if we really do expect God to let us have whatever we want all of the time, however we want, and we believe that he wants us to be happy all of the time we are going to put ourselves at risk and Sher at risk for what you might ask.

Well, let me tell you, you are going to be at risk of doubting because if you truly believe God loves me and I'm his child and he wants me to be happy all of the time, but then you're not happy all of the time. Suddenly you go from God loves me and he wants me to be happy to does God love me? Is he even aware of me? Is God even real? Because I am not happy. at all. No matter how many dance moves, no matter how many hot pockets I have, I am not happy and I'm doing everything I'm asked to do. So we can't allow ourselves to believe [00:07:00] that God wants us just to be blissfully happy all of the time.

So does God want us to be happy? Of course he wants us to be happy. I really liked this sentence the preacher said. God delights in your happiness, but not at the risk of holiness. that's good. It's really good because God does want us to be happy and we are that we might have joy, but we remember from our teachings and learnings that happiness is a temporary thing. And joy is eternal. So does he want us to be happy? Yes. Are you his child? Yes. Does he delight in your happiness? Yes, but not at the risk of holiness. 

Sher: That's good because that temporary happiness may not be the most holy thing and He wants us. To be holy so that we can be worthy to live with Him. I like that quote a lot. 

Sometimes though, , we are going to struggle because we aren't getting what we want. We imagine our life that it should be a certain way, but we aren't getting that. Whether it's. career opportunity or a relationship or financial [00:08:00] security or personal peace, whatever that is, that is a good desire. It's something that's not bad. It's something that is good, but you're not getting it. We get frustrated and disappointed when things don't go our way.

In James chapter 4 verse 3, it says, Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. I think that describes my life right there in a nutshell. amiss. Maybe my life isn't aligned with God the way it should be. And so I'm asking for the wrong things. And that's what I need to focus on, is my will aligned with the will of God's. 

Cydni: What are you asking for, Sher? The Oscar Mayer Wiener vehicle? 

Sher: I ask for it every day and I haven't got it. No, I am not asking for that. You know, just world peace. Oh. Right. That was going to be my second guess. You know, just stuff like that. 

Cydni: Just three wishes from a genie. 

Sher: That's all. Not a big deal. And the Oscar 

Cydni: Mayer wiener vehicle. Love to take my kids to school. I'm that baby. 

Sher: Your kids [00:09:00] would love it too. Especially middle school age, they'd be so humiliated. Alright, so we don't always get what we want, but we get what we need. In Isaiah chapter 55, verses 8 and 9, it says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my way, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So God's wisdom and understanding are far, far beyond our own understanding. And while we may not always understand His decisions, we can trust that He knows what is best for us. Even when I don't get everything I want. I remember when I was in middle school, I really got into playing softball and I really wanted to be the pitcher and be the best ever. And so I would throw my little softball On to the side of the house, and then it would bounce off and I would catch it. And I can't even tell you how many times my parents told me to stop doing that. They would always say, [00:10:00] Sher, stop doing that. And then it was just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't remember what they said after that because I didn't listen. And I ignored everything they said. And I just kept doing it until one day. I threw the softball hard enough that I broke the bricks on the side of the house. Now you're just bragging. Or the bricks were old. And as the bricks broke off, it shattered a window. And then I fully understood why my parents were telling me to stop throwing the softball against the side of the house.

Our Heavenly Father is giving us the same advice. Heavenly Father saying, look Sher I know you really love throwing your softball against the side of the house, and it's making you happy right now, and it's fine, but It's not going to last long. This is a temporary happiness, and you need to listen to me. And then I had this thought come into my head as I was pondering that. In 2nd Nephi, chapter 2, verse 25, it says, Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy. So God sees the entire picture, and he gets that if we continue in one [00:11:00] way, Throwing the softball against the side of the house. It's going to end with broken windows. And if I had stopped doing that when my earthly parents first told me to stop doing it, none of that would have happened and I wouldn't have had the consequence of my parents wrath and working forever to pay off the window I would have had joy during that time period instead of crying and I'm sorry and all those things. So the whole point is, God wants us to have this eternal joy. And even though life is hard and it's difficult, He knows exactly what we need to gain the ultimate and eternal joy. 

Cydni: Okay, but Cher, what if your parents had just told you that would have been nice to be like, Hey, don't do it because that will fall apart because you're so strong and a mighty pitcher.

Why can't God just tell us sometimes like, Hey, no, don't choose that career because in the long run, it's going to ruin your entire life and identity or something like that. Why can't we just be told the reason why that would help me a lot? Like, I have a question. And God says, here's [00:12:00] the answer, and here's all the detail, every bit of detail, and here's an angel to deliver that answer as well. Wouldn't that be nice? 

Sher: Yeah, I totally agree with that, and I would really, really love that, but I want to just add two things to that. One is that my parents did tell me. Why? And I never bothered to listen to the why. Ooh, dang it. That one hurt my heart. Like, maybe that's me. And when we read the scriptures, and when we are praying about something, and we truly pray about it, and God puts that little thought into your heart and into your brain, and then you don't listen to it. Because you're just being stubborn. I think God warned, you know, even if he warned you like hey Maybe this isn't the right job or career. You shouldn't be doing that. Because it's not bad It's just saying make a different choice, right? So it's not necessarily bad But he's seeing the bigger picture But even if he puts that into your heart and you don't know why and you don't know the reasons that is the whole point That's why we're here. That's building faith and I think that's what God wants us to do. He wants us to be aligned with His [00:13:00] will. And we don't always understand it. Also though the obvious example of all of this is our Savior Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26 verse 39, it says, Oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. So here our Savior, He wanted there to be a different way to save us. But there wasn't. This was the only way. And He trusted in God's will. If He had not done that, there wouldn't be any joy for any of us in the eternities, if He didn't submit Himself to the will of the Father.

So like our Savior, sometimes we must accept our trials, our challenges, or the things in life we aren't receiving, and understand it's God's greater plan to help us grow and become more like Him, and ultimately have joy for eternity with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Cydni: As much as we talked about that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, that His ways are higher, I do [00:14:00] love and appreciate very much that God comes down to our level with thoughts and ideas and answers, and recently I was actually thinking about this exact topic I have a friend who wants and desires something that's good and positive, and she's deserving of it, but she hasn't Received it and I don't know if she will receive it, which then led me to obviously think about myself, which I do so naturally I was thinking, you know There's really righteous things in my heart that I've never got and I don't know if I'll ever get it So then I started thinking about everybody that All these good people who want different things and then they don't get it, but they're righteous desires. They're even things that sometimes we are told to seek after and then we don't get it. So I was just pondering on this and God's came down to my level and explained it. In a way that I could understand. And this is what came to my mind. I thought of one of my children and I thought, what if one day they went to school without lunch? There they were at lunchtime and they were hungry [00:15:00] and there was no lunch for them. Would that be a catastrophe? And then I thought, no, not really, because if they didn't have lunch when they got home from school, I, as amazing of a housewife I am, would have attempted to make banana pumpkin pancakes, but then just got them Chick fil A or something. So they'd have something delicious waiting for them at home is the point. I would take care of them. So I'm sorry you didn't get lunch, but just around the corner, I'm going to give you something delicious and you're going to be fine. What if that's the perspective? That God has is that sometimes we just don't have lunch and we are so hungry for it and we are thirsting after it , . I want this so badly. And if I don't have it, I might just perish. But God knows. That if we just wait, we are going to be embraced into the most loving home with the most delicious, fulfilling feast that we could even imagine. And it's just around the corner and it's there, but it's not there yet, but he [00:16:00] still encourages us to hunger and to thirst and to seek after these things that we want and they will be fulfilled. And it's not that far. Away, but it feels like it is

Sher: That is a great example because I do feel like a lot of us Forgot our lunch or don't have lunch or whatever the case may be But I find a lot of comfort knowing that God won't leave any of us alone as we're trudging along without our lynches.

In Philippians chapter 4 verse 19, it says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. So in that scripture, we learn that God will always help us with what we truly need, even if it doesn't come in the form we expect, and like you said, just around the corner, we have this wonderful, beautiful, Buffet that we're almost to We just got to keep going and it's just around the corner. That is God's riches I can't even imagine what he has waiting for us because again his ways are not my ways I don't even [00:17:00] understand it. So yes, we're going to go through trials and challenges and not get everything we want, but he's going to make sure that we have everything we need.

Cydni: And that belief allows us to have happiness in our chaos because if we believe that, then we could adjust our Attitudes and have gratitude for what we do have because if we can believe that there is something much more than we could ever even dream of waiting for us, then in the now in the chaos and the unhappiness and the mud, we can find a reason to be grateful. We don't want to show up at a big buffet. Like how dare I not get a. PB and J and Hot Pockets and nobody was dancing. We don't have to live like that. We could live with an attitude of gratitude we could live with this reassurance and this hope that there is something far better than we could even imagine for ourselves. That's how we get to have beauty in the chaos, there is something better.

Sher: As I was [00:18:00] researching this, kept popping up time and time again, , I think we've all heard this to trust in God's timing. God's timing is different than ours, and he may not give us what we want right now because he's preparing us for something better or because the timing isn't right yet. And to that, I just want to throw it out there and say, Okay, moving on. 

Cydni: Okay. That just reminded me of if you send like a really long heartfelt text to somebody and they just text back, okay. God's like, hang in there. My timing is different. Don't you forget. I love you. And you're like, okay. That is what I just did. Sorry. 

Sher: Sorry, Heavenly Father. You'll repent on your own time. I know. I will be better. All right. But I do find comfort knowing that in my pursuit for happiness, that God is also pursuing me. In Romans chapter 8 verse 28 it says, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. So God is actively working in our lives for our [00:19:00] ultimate good. The proof is in the parable of the lost sheep. When we stray and go off the path, God is looking for us. He wants to find us. He wants all of his children to come back home because he loves us. 

Cydni: And he has lunch ready. 

Sher: That sounds so delightful. . So he's going to encourage us to have faith, to have hope, to serve, and to show gratitude. In Romans, chapter 15, verse 13, it says, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is what our Heavenly Father wants us to do, and He wants us to rely on that faith and hope. And in the meantime, To help us out, to help our hearts a little bit more. He wants us to serve and to show gratitude. And working on those things, will help us get through chaos and help us find happiness and joy in the chaos. But again, for me, the thing that gives me the most hope is knowing that our Savior We'll always go looking for us.

. We can pursue [00:20:00] happiness the very best we can. But our Savior is filling that gap for us. And He is going to search for us 24 7. He is constantly going to be there and He can do that through the comforter and the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Cydni: . A word I've always loved with this idea is relentless, that God is relentlessly pursuing us. I love the stories where people share their testimonies of this, especially people who say they lived a while as atheists, that they were relentlessly pursued. And when they were baptized how they look back and they see that God was always where they were. It didn't matter how far gone they felt like they were, that they were never too far for God to keep pursuing them, that they were never too out of reach for God to try and show how much he loves us, that he's relentlessly pursuing each and every one of us, no matter where we are, I think is such a beautiful thought and a beautiful idea, and I feel that it's true. 

Sher: I do too. that relentless pursuit it reminds me of the art [00:21:00] that I have in my house. 

Cydni: That one that's like the mountain dew chasing a beer? No. Why did I say that? It was going to be bear. No. That art. Oh, the Jesus one. Yeah. 

Sher: Yeah, it reminds me of the art of the Savior running , it's just like with abandonment. After the lost sheep, and I love that image. I love looking at it, because I feel like I am that lost sheep so often, and it's so comforting to know that have someone that has my back, that's running after me, and protecting me. Through this life. I am so grateful for that.

So this brings us to our final thoughts. Life's challenges, it's going to bring chaos, but happiness is still within reach. God gives us what we need to grow, even when it's not what we want. Like the Savior in Gethsemane, we must trust Our Father's timing and His plan. Take comfort knowing God is always pursuing us, working for our good. With faith, hope, and gratitude, we can find lasting joy and peace in His eternal [00:22:00] love.

Cydni: Our challenge this week is that no matter what season you are in, whether it's a season of weeping or sadness or mourning, we challenge you. To add a whole lot more dancing to your week. Do it! Dance! I challenge you to a dance off. This is mostly our prayer. From Cydni and Sher. Now dance! Today's happiness. O, ordinate, ordinate, ordinate, what is that? Ordinate, orinate, orient, orient. Did it. Okay. You can take that. that part out. 

Sher: I really have got to sneeze. It's just sitting there taunting me. You're lying. It's taunting [00:23:00] me. I don't even trust you anymore. You've lost all my trust with your sneeze. It's right here. 

Cydni: let me say something else. Let me say something else. Okay. I'm just so focused on dance moves now. Why didn't I make the cheer squad? 

Sher: I actually think I missed and I think it went right through the window. 

Cydni: I like the story version that you pitched it so hard. It would have been a strike. Hey, don't marry that man? Because 10 years down the road, he's going to be an alcoholic and murder people. come up with a different one. I'll add something. I'll add lies.

The woman holding the fruit basket. Try again. Okay. I just, there was this one in Paris I saw that was In Paris, there is a painting that I saw, and I was going to say that, but it's so wildly inappropriate and I can't say it but in my head it was funny. 

Sher: Why start now? Why filter now, Cydni? I don't understand. How come you're filtering? 

Cydni: For real? I don't have anything to say. Just hot pockets. I'm going to dance. I'm going to dance. You, final thought, and I'm going to dance.

Sher: That's how you dance. [00:24:00] That's really good dancing.