Is anyone TRULY happy? I don’t ask that question to be a pessimist. Anybody that knows me knows I’m happy go lucky and miss positive pants as I try to see the positive in every situation. Due to the fact that I’m always smiling, I once had someone ask me if people from Utah (where I’m from) smile a lot. Sure, this person who asked me was from the cold city of NYC where no one smiles and most people look miserable. But yes, I’m happy. Sometimes it’s annoying to those around me because even on a bad day, I try to find the good in it. Am I always happy? Of course not. Am I a relatively positive happy person? Yes.
But does one ever attain pure happiness?
I don’t believe anyone truly reaches a state of “happiness”. Nowhere in the Bible does it state we are going to live a life of happiness. In fact, the Bible says we find JOY when we are in suffering. James 1:2 says “when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Another version says “consider it PURE joy when trials come your way”. It doesn’t say when all is going well you will find joy. No, it says you can find joy when sufferings come. WHAT? That totally contradicts what the average person is striving for in this life…happiness. Most of us equate happiness to a life of NO problems and NO suffering of any kind. A few synonyms of happy are untroubled, satisfied, overjoyed, and euphoric. It is completely opposite of what scripture tells us.
People are always striving for that one “thing” to be happy.
- If I can just find a husband, then I’ll be happy.
- If I can just get that ring, then I’ll feel secure.
- If I can get a certain dollar amount in savings, then I’ll feel better.
- If I can lose 20 pounds, then I’ll feel confident.
- If I can have a baby, then I’ll feel complete.
- If I make this amount of money, then I’ll reach success.
- If I can just get that job, then I’ll be happier.
Are you ever TRULY satisfied once you obtain that one thing? For most of us, we obtain that one thing, and live in the happiness in that moment, but then what? It only satisfies you for a moment, temporarily. We live in a world where we are never satisfied. Why? Because none of it truly satisfies you. It may satisfy you in the moment, but it’s not enduring.
John 4:13-14 tells the story of the Samaritan women who looked to be fulfilled and happy in all the wrong places. She was with man after man, and living with another man currently that was not her husband. Jesus told her “whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” This world will leave you unsatisfied and it will all die and fade away. God is freely offering for you to drink from the cup of living water, that is everlasting. Not only is it everlasting, it offers us forgiveness for our past, redemption, and a new life where we will still undoubtedly be living in this world, but we will “not be of this world.” (John 17:16) We no longer have to be striving for the same empty unsatisfied things that leave us thirsty for more.
What is happiness to you? Take a look inside and ask yourself if what you are striving for, is it lasting? Or will it leave you thirsting for more?
Was I on a complete euphoric high when my husband proposed to me? Absolutely. Was I content and at peace on my wedding day when I married my best friend? 100%. Am I happy when I eat a slice of pizza? Without a doubt haha.
I believe we experience many moments of happiness in our life. And we can all be happy as we look at what’s ahead. Right before Jesus in his human flesh was about to be hung on a cross, he “for the JOY that was set before Him endured the cross”. (Hebrews 12:2) He knew the pain he was about to experience (the pain of dying on the cross after getting beaten down physically, ridiculed publicly, and having one of his very own disciples betray him) was surpassed with the JOY that was ahead for him sitting at the right hand of the throne of God.
What a joy that I can sit in confidently knowing that one day I will be in Heaven where there is nothing but perfection…PURE HAPPINESS. No more tears of any kind. No more feelings of emptiness. In fact, it’s a promise. A promise that one day, we will reach perfection when God and his army comes back for us. Revelation 21:4-6 says “God will wipe away every tear from your eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away….”I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts”.
Talk about HAPPINESS! No more tears, no more pain…no more what ifs, no more acceptance or lack thereof, no more worry, no more anxiety, no more sadness…rather JOY! And it’s what lies ahead for all of us gals. It’s PROMISED. (and hopefully pizza too…mmmm pizza)
