When I was a youngster, our church had a choir loft that was built high above the rostrum and of course in plain view of the entire congregation.  During services, I would sometimes pass the time looking at the choir members.  Occasionally I would see one of them nodding off.  First, the person’s head would nod forward toward the chest and then snap back up, only to fall again.

But I also noticed that one young lady in the choir always seemed to have a smile on her face.  It wasn’t a fake smile just for show; it was obviously sincere—almost as though she were thinking about something pleasant.  My mother noticed the smiling lady, too; and after church one day I overheard her ask the lady, “Tell me, how is it that you always seem to have a smile on your face?”

The lady laughed and replied, “I believe that I’m responsible for my face for the first 40 years of my life.  After that, habit will take over.”  And, you know, I believe she was right.  I saw this same lady years later when she was almost 80, and she still exhibited that same smile and happy attitude.  Her good habit had indeed taken over.

I happen to know that life was not always kind to this dear lady.  One of her children was kidnapped and abused, and she lost her husband to diabetes.  I’m sure she had her moments of tears and anguish; but somehow she kept that smile on her face day after day, year after year, until habit took over.

I want to be like that. I want to grow older with a smile on my face.  I want to be a pleasant senior citizen, not an old grouch.  If you feel that way, too, then the time for us to start is now.  If you’re younger than 40, it will be easier for you to develop a happy face.  But there’s hope even for those of us who have eased past 50 and beyond.

The Bible tells us that the place to begin this transformation is not on the face but in the heart.  Proverbs 15:13 says, “A glad heart makes a happy face.” (NLT).  A truly glad heart doesn’t come from having money, possessions, or good luck.  Those kinds of things can disappear in an instant.  The glad heart that keeps a smile on our face comes when we have peace and joy in knowing that God loves us and has forgiven our sins.

Jesus can give us a happy heart even when things are not going good for us.  On one occasion, the psalmist David recognized he had sinned greatly, and he felt miserable.  He cried to the Lord:  “My guilt overwhelms me--it is a burden too heavy to bear.  My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.  I am bent over and racked with pain.  My days are filled with grief” (Psalm 38:4-6, NLT).  Probably David didn’t have a smile on his face when he prayed that prayer.  This is why he pleaded with the Lord, “Restore to me again the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You (Psalm 51:12, NLT).

The same God that David consulted can also take away your sins and your guilt and put a smile on your face that will last through anything this world throws at you.  I know this is true, because I have seen people with a little smile on their face even when they were going through a painful experience.

No matter where you are in you life right now, in spite of what you may be going through, why not ask God to give you a happy heart.  And when He does, your family and friends will notice a difference.  A happy heart will do more for your face than any surgical procedure or chemical injection.  A happy heart works from the inside out to give you a smile that just won’t quit. 

Smiles, everyone!