by Lara Cook
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11
Happiness isn't found by pursing it; it is a by-product of pursuing GodEveryone wants to be happy. Blaise Pascal a 17th century philosopher said this concerning happiness. "All men seek happiness. This is without exception. This is the motive of every man, even of those who hang themselves." Unfortunately, all too often when we seek happiness in any earthly form, we end up at the end of ourselves. Chasing earthly pleasures to find happiness only results in pain, heartbreak, debt, betrayal, and the list goes on. When we seek happiness in God, we can find true happiness from someone who will never quit on us.
We all have an opinion of what makes us happy and we allow our circumstances to determine our happiness. The apostle Paul found himself arrested and being brought before King Agrippa. The way I look at it there is not a lot of happiness to be found in this scene. However listen to the words of Paul: I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews… Acts 26:2 Happiness used here speaks of being supremely blessed and well off. If happiness is to be measured by circumstances then Paul has no business being happy! He ought to be miserable and mad because his circumstances are not producing happiness. But Paul understood that his happiness was not measured by his circumstances. He was supremely blessed because he knew his God was the source of his happiness.
If happiness for us comes only through maintaining a sufficient flow of favorable circumstances, life will be pretty hard on most of us. Even if we could determine our happiness by circumstances we would not be happy for long because we cannot control our circumstances. So happiness pursued through circumstances will quickly become inconsistent circumstantial happiness to us!
Our happiness in this life will never be found in pursuing the things of this world. God does want His children to be happy, contrary to some popular belief. But He doesn’t want us to be happy over holy. Holiness should be our goal and in striving for and seeking holiness we can find true happiness. The world is not going to make us happy or holy. The world will make us sad and unsatisfied. Only the pursuit of God can make us both happy and holy. Not only will pursuing Him bring us happiness, but also the realization that He pursued us first. He wants to have a relationship with us and He demonstrated His love for us on the cross through Jesus Christ. He calls us out and tracks us down to give us the only thing that brings lastinghappiness – His love, mercy and the gift of eternal life.
Everything this world offers, including some of the people, will rob you when you go looking for what they can offer you. They take your life and your soul. Mark 6:8says What can it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul? Jesus won’t take your soul. He won’t disappoint, He won’t give up or walk away, He won’t turn his back on you. He gives life. He gives wealth – heavenly wealth. Quit chasing happiness and start pursuing Christ now for a lasting and true happiness.
