Happiness Is...

Mark Dunagan
09/11/11 - Sunday Morning

Happiness

In view of the austerity found in some religious groups one might be tempted to think that God isn’t into happiness, but is only concerned about responsibility and duty, yet if I came to this conclusion, I would be dead wrong.  The Bible is filled with verses that stress joy, rejoicing and being happy.  Early on in the Scriptures God specifically commanded husbands to give happiness to their wives (Deuteronomy 24:5).

In reading various quotes on happiness from ages past and from the present I do find that the keys to happiness have always been known at least by a few people, and that they are nothing more than a repeat of a Bible verse or Biblical principle.

A Clear Conscience

“The first and indispensable requisite of happiness is a clear conscience” (Edward Gibbon).   I have learned that this is true.  I am happy when I know that I am doing or have done the right thing.  This is not a happiness that comes from pretending that everything is okay, but rather from knowing that one is right with God. 

• Ecclesiastes 9:7 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness….for God has approved your works”
• Isaiah 12:3 “You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation”.
• Romans 14:22 “Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves”.
• 1 Peter 3:21  Here baptism stands between a person and a clean conscience, for it is the last step prior to the forgiveness of sins.

The Way You Choose to See Things

“Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them” (Leo Tolstoy).  “Contentment makes poor men rich; Discontent makes rich men poor” (Benjamin Franklin). “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt).

I love the idea that our happiness is not dependent upon outward circumstances, because I have learned that the outward circumstance are never perfect.  In addition, when the circumstances might seem to be ideal, there is another problem.  “Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn out thoughts to God when everything is going well with us.  We ‘have all we want’ is a terrible saying when ‘all’ does not include God.  We find God an interruption.  As Augustine says somewhere, ‘God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full---there is nowhere for Him to put it’.  Or as a friend of mine said, ‘We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it’s there for emergencies but he hopes he’ll never have to use it’” (C.S. Lewis).  So happiness is a choice, a decision that Scripture helps me with everyday:

• Matthew 6:21 “The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore you eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light”
• Deuteronomy 30:19 “So choose life”.
• Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord”
• Philippians 4:11 “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am”.

Liberated from the Circumstances

Here are some practical ways to view the circumstances, even bad ones:

• Happiness is the art of learning to respond well to adversity.
• Adversity is actually a chance to exercise your happiness and see if it is real or fake.
• Bad situations are never permanent and neither are they pervasive.  People who choose to be happy do not allow a difficult situation to color every aspect of their lives. 
• In each stage of life you probably have to give up something—but you gain something as well.
• “The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mood of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change, for happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up” (Charles Morgan).
• And for the Christian, no matter what happens, we a headed in the direction of absolute bliss (Romans 8:18).

Shared Joy

“Unshared joy is an unlighted candle” (A Spanish Proverb).  “Live to shed joys on others.  Thus best shall your own happiness be secured” (Henry Ward Beecher).   This is an important insight.  Remaining alone, keeping to ourselves will keep out happiness as well.  We were designed to be social creatures, and to share our joys and rejoice in what others are experiencing.  Time and time again Scripture speaks of the joy of being with others and worshipping God:

• Ezra 3:12; 6:22
• Nehemiah 8:10; 12:43
• Psalm 95:2; 100:2
• Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice”
• Paul equally found tremendous joy in seeing other Christians grow, mature and remain faithful even in the face of hardship.  We are cutting ourselves off from happiness when we isolate ourselves from others (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Not the Absence of Passion

There are two basic mistakes that I find people making when it comes to happiness.  One common error is trying to do everything to make yourself happy and simply living for yourself all the time.  The second error is thinking that happiness is a bad thing, and so trying to remove all passion and joy in living from one’s life, and opting for a life of apathy.  This can be seen in the attitude, “I am not going to get my hopes us—so I will never be disappointed, I simply won’t care”.  Yet happiness is not about the absence of passion or getting rid of all our desires, rather, happiness is found in rightfully using all our desires.

“God wants you to serve Him passionately, not dutifully.  People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing or feel passionate about…When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you to challenge you or check up on you.  You do it for the sheer enjoyment…The opposite is also true:  When you don’t have a heart for what you are doing you are easily discouraged..Passion drives perfection.  In contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit” (Rick Warren).

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion….is no part of the Christian faith.  Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak” (C.S. Lewis).  So happiness is not about the absence of passion, but rather the mastery of passion.   He never tells us to stop loving or stop caring, or stop being angry, rather, He tells us what to love, what to care about, and where to channel our anger.  In the Scriptures I find Godly men very passionate, and especially very passionate about being with God:

• Psalm 16:11; 21:6
• Psalm 42:1-4  “So my soul pants for you, O God”
• Psalm 84:2 “My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord”
• Psalm 119:111 “I have inherited Thy testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart”.

Tied to Strong Virtues

“The chief cause of our misery is less the violence of our passions than the feebleness of our virtues” (Joseph Roux).  “Happiness is the state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values” (Ayn Rand).  So happiness really has nothing to do with getting everything I want.  History is filled with people getting everything they want and being miserable!  Happiness is tied to becoming the person that God wants me to be.  And this should be a no-brainer.  It is obvious the following virtues (2 Peter 1:5-11) will only generate happiness, make it possible, and enable it to remain:

• Trust in God/Faith
• Moral Excellence/The love of goodness
• Correct Knowledge/The Truth
• Self-Control
• Perseverance
• Godliness
• Brotherly Love
• Love

Have the right Comparisons

“Comparison, more than Reality, makes men happy or wretched” (Thomas Fuller).  There are wrong comparisons, like thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side, or that others have it much better that we do,  yet there is equally good comparisons. 

• It is good to remember what life was like before our conversion and how much better it is now that we are saved (Ephesians 2:1-3; 11 “Therefore remember”).
• It is healthy to remember how we have grown over the years.
• To remember the problems and headaches that we no  longer face between we are Christians.
• It is important to remember that in the most important areas of life, we are addressing, succeeding and investing.

Just Do It

The Bible often speaks of the Christian life as “putting on” a new person (Ephesians 4:24 “and put on the new self”).   I have seen too many people in my life sit back and complain about not being happy or sit around and daydream about being happy “one of these days”.   In fact, many people actually do know what they need to do.  They need to become unselfish, serve others, trust God and so on.  People that end up happy are the people who actually do such things.  So when God says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24), I can either sit back and say, “I am going to do that one day”, or I can say, “I am going to start doing that right now”.