On happiness
“Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." (1 Peter 3:10-11)
August 17, 2024
Dear friends,
We all want to be happy. I think for most people this is a given. Much of the pastoral care I gave through the decades was to men and women who were not happy, whether it was with themselves, with life, with their spouse, with needs not being met, or ultimately, being unhappy with God. "Don't I have a right to be happy?" Words like these, and words like, "I'm not being fulfilled" usually reveal the self-centered nature of much of our unhappiness.
The biblical view of happiness, and our contemporary understanding of happiness, are at odds. Happiness today is primarily a subjectivized, individual experience of personal well-being. Often it's connected to good health, sexual fulfillment, recognition from others, notable accomplishments, and having a life free from insecurity and poverty. The biblical view of happiness, however, is more wholistic, taking into account realities higher and outside of ourselves. It is ultimately relational, coming to us as a blessing from God. The Bible is filled with words like joy, blessed, hope, delight, and peace!
The Hebrew word for "peace", shalom, has such a rich meaning. It denotes the harmony and well-being which comes from being rightly related to our Creator (God), to others (e.g., family and community), and to the environment we live in (nature). As we see in the verses above, "peace" and seeing "good days" are related to righteousness. There is no lasting happiness that is not connected to God and his ways. Consider these excerpts from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis...
“All that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
God is the source of happiness. Joy comes to us from him and is integrated with all of his purposes for us. We should never try to seek happiness (or joy, or peace) by itself, nor to seek these apart from God. We should seek righteousness (Matt 5:6; 6:33). The Beatitudes that Jesus taught (in Matt 5:3-12) are the counter-intuitive paths to blessing, comfort, satisfaction, joy, and eternal riches.
By whatever terms we use, joy and peace come to us as we know, trust, and obey God, and as we serve others for his sake. Such happiness in this fallen world, however, will be partial at best, for we are not home yet and there is much misery in this world. But we rejoice in hope, because a new world is coming: "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11)
There is so much to be joyful about in the Christian life! If we struggle with feelings of unhappiness, we should ask ourselves, do we have the right understanding of who we are and what we have in Christ? Are we seeking happiness itself, or the God who gives happiness? We need the right focus in seeking happiness, which is seeking first the Lord and his righteousness — the rest shall be added in time.
MY BACK PAGES
-- You really can't come up with a better introduction to happiness than this.
-- Jonathan Edwards believed that the goal of creation is not simply to glorify God, but that we (redeemed humanity) might fully enjoy the glory of God.
READING AND LISTENING
-- C. S. Lewis said, "We Have No Right to Happiness"!
-- Here's the back story to Frost's "The Road Not Taken".
-- We're enjoying this new song, "Sure Been Good".
FINAL QUOTE
"So I hold out my arms to my Redeemer, who, having been foretold for four thousand years, has come to suffer and to die for me on earth, at the time and under all the circumstances foretold. By His grace, I await death in peace, in the hope of being eternally united to Him. Yet I live with joy, whether in the prosperity which it pleases Him to bestow upon me, or in the adversity which He sends for my good, and which He has taught me to bear by His example." (Blaise Pascal, Pensées #736)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.