Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Finding Happy
Greg Laurie:
God intends for us to be happy. Laurie is right that if we pursue happy instead of God, we have a problem. But if we pursue God and are not happy then we need to ask what we are doing wrong in our pursuit of God. Happiness may be byproduct, but it is also a marker worth watching. It is worth, from time-to-time, asking yourself if you are happy. But if you are not, ask God what to do, not circumstances.
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What is happiness? I think the world's version of it is quite different than the Bible's version. The happiness of this world depends on circumstances. If you are in good health, the bills are paid, and things are going well, then according to the world's philosophy, you are happy. But if someone cuts you off on the freeway, or if something else goes wrong, then suddenly you are unhappy. Your happiness hinges on what is happening at a given moment.I read that and I wonder if sometimes we go ahead and pursue byproduct? It is true that if you pursue byproduct you often mess up the primary pursuit and therefore also mess up the pursuit of the byproduct, but I don't think there is anything wrong with including byproduct in your motivations for the primary pursuit.
The Bible gives us a completely different view of this thing called happiness. According to Scripture, true happiness is never something that should be sought directly; it always results from seeking something else. When we are trying to be happy, when we are trying to be fulfilled, we rarely are. But when we forget about those things and get back to the very purpose for which God put us on earth, suddenly we find the wonderful byproduct of happiness popping up in our lives.
God intends for us to be happy. Laurie is right that if we pursue happy instead of God, we have a problem. But if we pursue God and are not happy then we need to ask what we are doing wrong in our pursuit of God. Happiness may be byproduct, but it is also a marker worth watching. It is worth, from time-to-time, asking yourself if you are happy. But if you are not, ask God what to do, not circumstances.
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