One of our favorite verses is this on in the Book of Nehemiah:
 
             "The joy of the Lord is my strength."   Nehemiah 8:10b
 
There is a difference between joy and happiness.  We often feel happy because of some thing happening around us.  We hear lively music or see a beautiful garden and we feel happy.  We look at the faces of our loved ones and we feel happy. 
 
Some people have a temperament that allows them to feel happy a lot of the time, others have to make an effort to be happy and put on a cheerful face.
 
JOY is a deeper emotion.  Joy arises out of the inner fabric of our being.  It is an inner assurance that is bestowed on us by our Lord when we acknowledge Him and all His greatness.  
 
The feeling of JOY is a gift from God, a product of the knowledge that God is in control.
 
It is possible to experience a joyful heart even in the midst of illness, trials, economic crisis, or strife if we place our trust and hope in Him.  We can trust Him to care for us according to His wisdom.
 
JOY gives us strength.  Sorrow, worry and fear make us weak.  Listen to what King David says.
 
"Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.  My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak."  Psalms 31:9-10
 
We also experience times when we are overwhelmed with distress and anguish.  We get too troubled and weak to go on.  In ourselves we do not have the wisdom or the strength to find the answers.  Like King David, we must look to the Lord and trust in him.