From Time magazine dated Janauary 17, 2005, the cover story was titled, “The Science of Happiness.” The article deals much with the “psychology” of happiness. Some interesting statistics in the article report that based on their own assessment, Americans are overwhelmingly happy and optimistic people regardless of their income. The top four answers that people gave to what makes them happy were: Children/grandchildren – 35%, Family – 17%, God/faith/religion – 11%, and Spouse – 9%. One thing that struck me while reading this article is that people are trying to find happiness in every nook and corner of their lives. It seems that the majority of us are searching for happiness, the American dream. Is happiness attainable and if so how?
In John Piper’s book, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight For Joy, he states, “One of the most important discoveries I have ever made is this truth: God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him.” I remember as a boy there was a spring in the woods on the property adjacent to our property. I don’t know who, but someone had build a small concrete dam to pool the water so that it could be easily accessed. In order to get a drink of the refreshing water, you had to get on your knees and drink the water from your cupped hand. It was perhaps some of the best water I have ever drank. It brought refreshment to my body and quenched my thirst. In our underlying search for happiness, that is the premise, to have a thirst quenched.I don’t know about you, but I want to be happy. I want my wife to be happy. I want my daughters to be happy.
Does God want us to be happy? Is it sinful for Christians to be happy? Sometimes it appears that the answer to that question is yes and sometimes it seems to be no. I am in the process of reading When I Don’t Desire God: How To Fight For Joy, a book written by John Piper. I highly reccomend this book as it addresses the question of Does God want us to be happy and experience joy. Two weeks ago at a men’s retreat, I took the opportunity to share on the subject Loving God For Who He Is, in which I addressed the topics of happiness in the Lord, joy in the Lord, delight in the Lord and desire in the Lord. I shared that happiness happens when we are pursuing God. In our formative years as a believer in Christ we were taught to pursue godliness and you would find joy. We were taught to be obedient to God and His Word and someday we would experience happiness. The Bible teaches us we can be happy, joyful and delight in the Lord now, (Psalm 37:4, Psalm 100:2, Philippians 4:4, Psalm 42:1-2, Matthew 6:21, Psalm 16:11). Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13).
In my pursuit of God, I will become more like Christ – willing to serve, longing to love, able to forgive. Those attributes that we have tried to achieve by our own effort will happen naturally, or should I say supernaturally.
In the past I have heard well intentioned people make a statement that happiness was temporary and joy was eternal. Perhaps you have heard a variation of that statement to some degree. The premise is that you can’t really enjoy happiness while you are here on earth, but that it is something that will be realized after this life. When we examine scriptures, there is a very strong arguement that happiness can be achieved in this life and should be pursued. I will admit that for the greater part of my life, my belief in this area has been; serve and be obedient to God and His Word, then I will have joy. Happiness is not a science, it is not an emotion, it is not a state of mind. Happiness is found in knowing God, desiring God, delighting in God, and pursuing God.
I will be sharing more on this subject later.
