About being happy…
Some days I’m happy.
Some days I’m not.
Oftentimes, this depends on how much sleep I’ve gotten, or whether or not there’s any chocolate in the apartment, or if my hormones are behaving themselves.
In the midst of those “no sleep” days or “mad crazy hormonal stay-away-from-me” days, I sometimes remember that there are people in the world who don’t even have time to ask themselves if they are happy, much less pursue personal happiness.
Like war refugees. Or single moms. Or children hauled off into sex slavery. Or dads who have been laid off. Or … well… you get the picture.
So, back to my happiness.
I think, especially as an American, I’ve been brainwashed to believe that I have a basic human right to be happy: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
But, this is an American promise. Not a God-given promise. And NOT a world-given promise…
Drew and I face some life-changing decisions over the next few months. And, I’ve got to be honest, our “happiness” is on the list of factors. But is that even the right question to be asking???
Sometimes, I think I contribute to others’ suffering by justifying my actions in the name of “happiness.” Justifying my new house plants. Extra time with my husband. My vacation. Wanting to move back home in Georgia. My dream of a screened in front porch… Instead of giving money to charity, helping the widows and orphans, supporting social justice, serving in an area of the country that could use some more Love and morality.
Because, there’s nothing wrong with being happy… right…?
As a human being, I’m entitled, right??
Right...?
If others, who are less fortunate, had the opportunity to have their own screened in porch, or live closer to family, they’d do that, too, right…?
Or wrong?
Ecclesiastes 7:12-14
i think the trick is learning to find happiness with a servant’s heart. whatever God leads you to, choose to find the happy in it. if He leads you to a place with a screened-in porch, all the better. if He leads you to a place where there are nets over the beds to keep out mosquitoes, find happiness in having the nets as your screened in porch. nothing wrong with dreaming and pursuing… just keep an open mind.
easier said than done, i realize. but if find the more that’s the focus, the more natural it is to find the happy.
I truly believe God desires for us to be content. Translate that has “happy” if you want. Phil 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord, always.
so…I think there is a difference in being happy vs having joy in all circumstances…even the above Phil 4;4 says to rejoice IN THE LORD, always.. I understand that to be able to find the joy in knowing who God is, understanding His heart, finding joy in knowing He is on the throne despite my circumstances. There is nothing wrong with being happy, that is a great thing, it would suck if we had to walk around down here being miserable all the time. (not to mention our witness would be demolished) But our life goal is not to be happy, it is to be content in Christ.
ok, that’s just off the top of my head…liked the topic, it is similar to what I have been thinking about myself lately!
Mandy – this is good! I think you’ve got a sermon brewing there.
I don’t think that “happy” is a God-given promise, like you mentioned. What God DOES say is that we are to be CONTENT.
Are you content?
I don’t view being happy as a right, it’s an emotional state I think everyone in the world aspires to be in. This isn’t an American dream, I think it’s part of everyone’s dream, all over the world.
Your circumstance in life dictate your potential for being happy. For women I guess your hormones may have a lot to do with as well.
The happier we are the healthy we are. Happiness, and sadness, affect both our mental and physical health.
I think spreading happiness is a great goal in life. We can’t do that until we are happy ourselves.
Where does your happiness truly lie Mandy?
in living in a house with a screened-in porch?
In living closer to your extended family?
in having an endless supply of chocolate and raisinettes?
in spending greater quality time with Drew?
Being an artist recognised and rewarded for her talent?
all of the above?
all things of THIS world?
‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’ Matt 16:26
as Heather B pointed out we are to rejoice IN THE LORD always and we as a True Christian (as opposed to a ‘normal’ human being) are to only be happy when we truly follow His will over that of the things of this earth that seek to pull our will away from his own.
Nothing in this world can make our soul truly happy and even if we ‘have it all’ there will remain an empty space inside of each one of us longing for more to ‘fill’ that space ‘so we can be happy’.
only by rejecting the pleasures of this world in favour of His Grace and goodness can we be happy and then – if He wills – He will see to it that we have all we ‘need’, and much more besides.
Surely as Christians you and Drew don’t need me to be telling you all this stuff – you have known this since Sunday School surely?.
Or don’t Christians actually teach the thoughts of God and Christ for us all over where you guys come from/study??
i think you picked it quite right in your post – you have, along with hundreds of miliions, been brainwashed.
Ed is right – we ALL want a ‘happy ever after fairy tale life’…
Achieving it here on Earth without letting God Grant it to us because we ‘deserve’ it is the thing most likely to ensure we never achieve it in the after-life.
Despite the obvious evidence of all the people who HAVE the things we think we ‘need’ to make us happy, who are miserable to the point of suicide in some cases, the brainwashing/false god propaganda continues both around us and in our own minds.
True Happiness comes from contentment and wanting what you HAVE not having what you want. Nothing can make our soul ‘content’ other than being at One with God’s Will.
Not even raisinettes
<B
In the same way that the words ‘unhappy’ and ‘depressed’ have become mixed up by today’s pop psychology, it is my opinion that ‘content’ and ‘happy’ have. I agree with @mikeymo1741 (not the God bit
), but certainly that you should aim to be content with your lot.
I often shake my head when I hear people claim, “We need to get a bigger house before we can have children.” Both my parents were brought-up sharing a bedroom with their siblings, in a property with one bathroom, a small kitchen and a single living room. Why on Earth do people these days need to make sure they have a house with three bathrooms, a couple of living rooms and a bedroom for every child before they start procreating?
People should learn to be more content with their lot, rather than set such high material goals they need to achieve before they count themselves happy. Happiness, like faith, comes from within, not from any external factor. There are plenty of studies which have shown that those people who are content are more productive and better suited to helping others.
As an aside, don’t confuse the idea of being content with the desire to strive for more. The Anglo-Saxon need to always want to better ones life can still sit with being content in ones current position: it’s just a matter of not mixing up the nice tos with the need tos.
(Ha! I’ve said that far more succinctly in the final line than I did in four paragraphs of rambling.)
This has been my constant question since becoming a “seminary wife.” I think that in that role, we sacrifice a lot. We leave our homes and our comfort zones. We put off our careers and our families. We put our own plans and our happiness aside so that the men we love can do what they love.
I’m assuming that Drew is like my husband in that he enjoys studying and sharing God’s Word. (I can’t remember what program Drew is in.) I think it’s easy to name those desires as God-given and to label desires like creating and playing music and being close to family and having a house as “selfish.” But that just isn’t consistent with the character of God. True, sometimes (often) we are called to sacrifice. You might not get to live exactly where you want to live. You might not get that screened in porch. But I think that the desire to be rooted somewhere is God-given. I think the desire to be close to your family is God-given. I think the desire to pursue the things you were created to do is God-given. We don’t serve a God who only gives tasks and challenges. We serve a God who offers joy, gifts, relationship with Him and with other people, all so that we can know Him better and so that we can display His glory. I don’t think that God always functions like the story of Job, giving and taking away so He can be sure we trust Him and love Him more than anything else. I think sometimes God gives us desires and talents and deep longings that make us who we are and draw us closer to Him through those outlets, those people, those joys.
I highly recommend an author named Parker J. Palmer, especially his books “Let Your Like Speak” (which I think everyone should read at least once every few years) and “A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life” (which I haven’t finished yet but speaks a lot to these sorts of issues). He’s a Quaker who offers a perspective that I so deeply want to believe, but I’m often held back by my own stupid, legalistic constructs of a distant and tyrannical God. I think there’s probably a balance to be found somewhere. I’m not very good at balance. But still, I definitely recommend Palmer. So much goodness and truth and hope to be found there.
nice post.
one of the best pieces of advice i’ve ever received came from my former youth pastor/mentor. a man named aubrey who has offered so many lasting, godly wisdoms for me.
he said, “when you chose to become a Christian, to follow Jesus, you chose to willingly give up every humanly, earthly right to which you were previously entitled.” as a follower of Christ, a bondservant, a slave of Christ, i have chosen to have no rights as far as this world is concerned.
did i mention i really liked where you were leading with this?
no?
well. i did.