Pursuit of HAPPYness

Happiness-

(n.) a state of well being and contentment.

What makes you happy? Is it having an amazing job? Well, what if that amazing job lays you off?

What happens then?

What about money? Doesn't that sound better? You can do a lot with money. BUT what happens if you lose all your money?

What happens then?

What about a successful relationship? Does that make you happy? Well what if that special someone got into a car crash and they flew off the windshield and dropped dead on the street?

What happens then?

Okay maybe you don't care about jobs, money, and relationships. What if what makes you really happy is being alive and well and living a long successful life? BUT what happens when you get cancer? what happens when you get sick? What happens if your life and your health is slowly disappearing and slowly fading away right in front of your eyes?

What happens then?

As human beings we are so discontent, we can never be satisfied. We always want more. More. More. More. And then some more. After we get some more of something that we want, we get something else and then we want more of that something else. It never ends.

So when is it going to end? When is the cycle of wanting more going to end? When is it that WE are content? Our minds are built upon this foundation of "MORE." Mostly everyone in this world think more is better.

The question is no longer "WHAT makes you happy?" but "WHEN are you going to be happy?"

Everything that we ever aspire to have will always disappear. They will never last.

If we are ever going to be happy, then this world will not make it happen. This world will never satisfy us. This world is like a drug, it's only happy for a while, but what happens after? you feel sad again, then you crave it more and then more and then more until you're stuck in this cycle of wanting more and not getting what you want. Happiness is not found in this world, but it is outside of it.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. This verse was written by Paul, one of Jesus' disciples, when he wrote to the Philippians. At the time Paul wrote this verse he was not in a HAPPY PLACE; Paul was not in what we call a comfortable place. When Paul wrote this verse he was in prison. Paul was in jail handcuffed to a guard and was beaten like a dog. And yet, Paul said "Rejoice in the Lord always."

Try to put yourself in Paul's situation? Do you think you would be able to be as happy as Paul was at that time if you were in prison and handcuffed and beat up?

The way Paul wrote it is not just another word he wanted to say; it is not a request either. When Paul said to Rejoice and he said it again Rejoice, it was a command. Paul found that there is this joy and the feeling of contentment through God and God alone. There is this feeling of whatever happens, God is enough. The thing about God is that He will never leave you. He will always be there. This world will fade and crumble, but God's word will last forever.

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you." Psalms 73:25

"God is most glorified when you are most SATISFIED in Him in the midst of loss."

- John Piper