Happiness?

“Tu estas feliz,” he told me as Jose sipped from a hot cup of coffee.

“I’m happy?” I pondered as I checked the time. I got here too late this morning and would soon have to leave. But I didn’t want to.

Jose is one of the guys I give coffee and encouragement to once a week. I had spent too much time at the computer this morning basking in the warm fuzzy glow of my team’s victory against all odds the previous day. As a result, time was running out on me.

I never know for certain who I’m going to rub shoulders with as I make my weekly rounds, but I’ve talked with Jose the past few weeks. Each week, he’d open a little bit more, he’d share about his life and his philosophy.

This morning we talked about hope.

“The guys here, there is very little work for us,” he started. “As a result, we wake up each day thinking about how we’re going to pay the rent.” Each day without work is a cause for concern. “Some of these people haven’t worked for weeks.”

“How do you live with joy?” was the unspoken question.

Jose shared how he met some evangelicals in his home country who were nice at first, but began making hypocritical demands on him. He got out.

We believers sometimes throw pat answers. “Trust in God. Jesus loves you. You need to have faith.”

Those are all true. But they serve no purpose if they are not lived out in OUR lives and tenderly, patiently and consistently lived out in our relationships with others.

I’ve had enough of “drive-by” evangelism. I want to spend more of my time living with friends. I want to share God’s love through the joy I receive through the hope I have in what Jesus is doing in me.