If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it!

Have you known someone who seems to be smiling all the time?

With so much mask-wearing, smiles are getting harder to share.

But people who smile are likely to be better off physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Smiling is a great mystery to ponder.

Why do our face muscles pull back around our mouths in response to a happy emotion?

Many scientific studies have been done to try and determine what exactly is going on when we smile.

We know about endorphins which are released naturally in the brain as a result of happiness and laughter.

But according to neurologist Dr. Isha Gupta, smiling causes a chemical reaction in the brain.

Her studies show that smiling releases dopamine and serotonin which increase our feelings of happiness and reduce stress.

Low levels of these chemicals are associated with depression.

But the more amazing claim is that by smiling intentionally, you can trick your brain into believing you’re happy which can then cause actual feelings of happiness.

I searched the Bible to see if that claim could be backed up with holy writ.

Proverbs 15:13 says that “Happiness makes you smile.”

But can smiling make you happy?

To my surprise, a few verses later in Proverbs 15:30 it says, “The light of the eyes rejoices the heart.”

Try putting a twinkle in your eyes in the mirror and see if you can do that without smiling.

You can’t!

So there you have it in scripture: smiling will make your heart glad.

But even if you don’t think intentional smiling will make a change in you, it for sure will make a change in someone else.

Try smiling at someone and see if they can resist smiling back at you.

And in doing so, I believe it will bless you and make you feel better.

So maybe we should sing, “If your face will surely show it, you’ll be happy and you’ll know it!”

You can clap your hands for that!

Next week: How do you deal with masks?

Dan Williams is the senior adult pastor at Lexington Baptist Church.