Does God Desire For Us To Be Happy?
I led a Bible study with a group of women of all ages. Each week the subject of happiness was brought up. The world tells us to do what makes us happy, but that is the exact opposite of what the Bible tells us. There is not one verse in the Bible that tells us to put our happiness first and obedience to God or the feelings of others second. Each week as the Bible study group read our scripture, we would have a running joke, “If it makes you happy, do it.” We would all roll our eyes and laugh at the absurdity of our culture. We can maybe joke about this in the middle of our Bible study group, but when we leave and go out into the world, the joke is on us. We are all striving to live a life of happiness.
Where did this lie begin? It began at the very beginning of creation, when there were only two people walking the earth. In Genesis 3, Eve was tricked by Satan Into thinking she would be happier if she ate from the tree of knowledge. Satan said to her, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’…You will surely not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” You will be happier. Notice the enemy told Eve she would be like God. God is happy and we were made in His image, we know that happiness is possible because of this, but how should a Christian achieve happiness without buying into the lie the world tells us?
Jesus tells us in Mark 8:34 that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. To deny ourself means to give up our life on account of Jesus and the gospel, not to be an ascetic disciple necessarily. A ascetic person is one who commits or dedicates their life to a religious purpose and denies themselves pleasures they may find in the world. Christians are not commanded to deny the pleasures of the world, only to deny themselves for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. Those who were sentenced to a death of crucifixion were made to carry their own cross to their death. The very thing they would hang and suffer on had to be carried by them. As Christians, we must be prepared to face martyrdom, make hard decisions between the world and Jesus’ truth, and be asked to trust what God is doing in our lives, we do this all in allegiance to Jesus Christ. Most people come into Christianity thinking their life will be easier once they give it to God, but in reality it becomes harder because they see everything they must deny in order to pick up their cross.
The cross may seem heavy at first, but as we continue to walk with it, Jesus picks up the back end and He walks with us. The happiness we thought we were giving up, has now turned into a different kind of happiness. As we carry our cross, we see that God’s happiness goes a different direction than worldly happiness. We must make our decision on which direction to go. Eve sinned because she chose the wrong direction. A life of sin is brought on because we chose to believe the lie that we will be happier if we go the wrong direction. We are brought to believe that our life would be better or we would benefit if we go against the happiness that is from God and make our own happiness in the world.
I have found three ways to choose godly happiness over worldly happiness.
Fight the thrill of sin. Sinful experiences may seem exciting and thrilling at first. That moment of gossip with a friend was fun and made myself sound good. That hour of flirtation that led to thirty minutes of pleasure was exciting and made me feel wanted. That relationship that I’m in even though God has someone better for me, makes me feel loved. That high I feel everytime I take a drink or do a drug is fleeting and leaves me wanting more. I know I may have gone to the extreme in my examples, but these are real life scenarios that Christians are fighting every day and they are momentary pleasures that do not last. Think of pleasures you find in the world; shopping, watching shows on television, angry outbursts, etc. I’m not saying these are always bad, I’m saying they can be if we use them the wrong way. They may make us feel good for a short while and relieve some stress we may be feeling but then we feel worse when the excitement wears off than we did before. Fight the thrill of momentary pleasure and lean more into the pleasures that last a lifetime.
Trust that God has great things planned for you. When we fall into the temptation of sin, we are taking control of our own happiness, we think we know what is best for us. This is where trust comes in. God knows what is best for us. His goal is not for us to live in sadness, loneliness, and unhappiness. His goal is for us to live in full surrender to Him so that He can bless us with His goodness and joy. The world tells us that if we don’t pursue our relationships with our own timing and choices then we will be lonely forever. If we don’t watch the shows the rest of the world watches or participate in sinful activities like the rest of the world then we will be left out. We have to trust that God has great plans for us that do not involve sinful activities. We can be confident in God’s plans and not take the bull by the horns and make our own plans happen.
Stand firm in the truth. The truth is the only solid foundation we have as we navigate through our days. Search God’s Word and find what it says about what is tempting you. If the truth says the opposite of what the world is saying, flee from it. God’s truth is never confusing (don’t add words to it so that it says something it doesn’t mean), it never lies, and it never leads you astray. It never changes and it is always trustworthy. Go straight to the source and stand firm in what it says. Just because the world says everyone is doing it does not mean it is what God says to do.
I leave you with the very first verse in the book of Psalms.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers” Psalm 1:1
Digging Deeper:
What does the world tell you will make you happy?
How have you seen this lie played out in your life?
What can you do to help fight this lie?