Monday, November 16, 2020
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
This is 2020. For most of us, we have had to figure out a whole new way of doing life. Even those of us who have been only slightly affected by COVID are having to do things differently now, and a lot of the things that made us happy before has been stripped away. If everything that you think brings you true happiness in your life were suddenly gone, what would you be looking at? Has this year left you feeling discontented? Seeking happiness in the Lord and the joy He gives is the only place that we can truly trust will be the same yesterday, today, and forever more.
The Guide to Happiness
Do you want to be happy? Of course you do! 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."
The editors of Psychology Today once published a questionnaire designed to answer the questions: What is happiness? And how do we obtain it? They invited their readers to respond. One man, for example, when asked said, "I don't know. I filled out the questionnaire. I think I'm happy; please verify."
Our founding fathers when writing the Declaration of Independence thought of happiness as a precious aspect of life as they wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." But can you find happiness by pursuing happiness?
Happiness isn't found by pursing it; it is a by-product of pursuing God.
Circumstantial Happiness?
A valid question is, "What makes you happy?" Probably all of us are geared to answer the question with different answers. Some might say happiness is greater financial stability as well as spendability! Some would say "If Mom is happy, everyone is happy!" The point being, we all have an opinion of what can make us happy so we seek certain circumstances to create our happiness.
But, check out this bit of wisdom...If happiness 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. If we pursue happiness from what this temporal world alone has to offer us, then life can be a profound disappointment.
So what will make us happy?
A big dog saw a little dog chasing its tail and asked, "Why are you chasing your tail so?" Said the puppy, "I have mastered philosophy; I have solved the problems of the universe which no dog before me has rightly solved; I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is my tail. Therefore I am chasing it; and when I catch it, I shall have happiness."
Said the old dog, "My son, I, too, have paid attention to the problems of the universe in my weak way, and I have formed some opinions. I, too, have judged that happiness is a fine thing for a dog, and that happiness is in my tail. But I have noticed that when I chase after it, it keeps running away from me, but when I go about my business, it comes after me."
Psalms 144:15b Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!
God's Word assures us that our happiness is found in our God. Try to think about God and His goodness and see if His promise is true. With these and other words from God's Word why would we not seek/pursue Him?
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
