One of the most misunderstood concepts in life is happiness. Many people
spend their lives pursuing happiness to no avail. When we search for
happiness, it flees from us, and we can never find it. Happiness comes along
when we least expect it, on the road to duty. So the key to being happy in
life is not to try to be happy. Instead, try to do your duty. Get done what
needs to get done each day. Happiness is like a taxi-cab. While you're going
from point A to point B, every once in a while when you least expect it, the
side door will open and happiness will get into the taxi with you for the
ride. That is how happiness works.
Also, no one can be happy all the time. It is impossible in the flesh. Only in the eternal can we continue going higher and higher. God's Word is eternal (i.e., the King James Bible), which means it is inexhaustible. The Holy Bible never gets old. There is always something exhilarating and helpful that we didn't see before. No one can continue climbing up the mountain forever here on earth. At some point, you'll reach the summit and have to descend back into the valley. So the key to being happy is to savor the moments of unhappiness in life, realizing that the valleys are necessary in order to ascend once more to the mountaintop! Truly, unhappiness is a virtue, that is, an admirable attribute. Boy that's good stuff!!!
In order to truly be happy, we must have something to compare it against. How can a painter express himself without contrasting colors? How can we enjoy the beauty of a bright red flower, without the mundane greenery around it? How can we enjoy the color of a beautiful rainbow, without the plain clouds and sky behind it? In order to be happy, we must have painful and sad times to contrast it with. Therefore, the greater one's sorrows and suffering in life, the greater happiness one can enjoy at the mountaintops of life.
Thankfully, anyone can have peace and joy in their soul, knowing that their name is written in Heaven. That's why Jesus told us to rejoice that our name is written in Heaven, because that fact never changes. Once you're saved, you can sit back and enjoy the ride. And anyone who says otherwise is teaching a false Gospel of partial faith in Christ plus human effort. So, even in the worst of situations, our hope of Heaven as a believer can sustain us through the most difficult hardships of life.
The word “happiness” comes from what “HAPPENS” to us in life. It can be challenging to be happy when bad things keep happening to us. One of the keys to being “happy” is to control what we think about. Many people CHOOSE (and that's the key word) to view a glass as being “half-empty” with water. But for the wise few, they CHOOSE to view the glass as being “half-full” of water. In other words, happiness is a CHOICE for any free person!!! Just about anyone can choose to be happy. I CHOOSE to thank God for the blessings in my life. I CHOOSE to look at what I do have, instead of what I don't have. I am in constant toothache-like neck pain, in the bony area in back. But I CHOOSE to praise God that I can still walk and live a normal life. Did you know that a sick soul is really just a lack of praise for God? It is impossible to complain and praise God at the same time. You may praise God in spite of some acknowledged negatives in your life, but you're either praising God or whining all the time about things. I CHOOSE to be a praiser, not a whiner.
What I am teaching you can totally transform your life if you'll let it. Learn to enjoy the unhappy moments in your life, knowing that it will enable you to truly grasp and appreciate the happy moments when they come. That's why the Bible says to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. Luke 7:47, “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” When you've been to the depths of sin and Satan, and then are made whole by the wondrous grace of our awesome God, only then can you truly appreciate and fathom the depth of God's love and mercy. That's why a person who has been forgiven of many sins, loves that much more, because they have been in the deep valleys, and now can ascend higher-up the mountain than others who've sinned less.
In other words, the deeper one's valleys in life, the more meaningful will be the mountaintops when you get there. That's why no one can appreciate freedom like a combat soldier, who's fought to secure and preserve it. No one can appreciate a growing child, like a mother who went through the jaws of death to bring a human being into the world. No one can appreciate a great meal, more than the person who grew up in poverty and hunger. The senior crowd, who grew up during The Great Depression era, have a spirit of gratitude that today's spoiled American youth lack. Difficult times prepare us for better times! Hard times prepare us for easier times. The Bible says in our text verse from Psalm 30:5b, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Amen! In order for joy to be possible, there must first be weeping. Without the weeping, joy wouldn't be joy. If everything were red, like a rose, then we couldn't appreciate the color of a rose. We need the plain looking greenery, in order to appreciate and see the spectacular colors in the yellow daisy, the white and blue Lily of the Valley, the purple flowers, et cetera.
If you'll grasp the truth I am sharing with you, as I learned many years ago, then you can also learn to savor life's valleys. Most of the time we are journeying in the valleys of life. We cannot be happy all the time. People who search for happiness never find it. People who try to be happy all the time never are. Some of the most miserable people in this world, are those who have millions and billions of dollars. Money never made anyone happy. Happiness is a by-product of living for God. Happiness comes to us when we least expect it, on the road to duty. Happiness is like a rainbow. Did you know that you cannot see a rainbow without first having rain? Yes, that is true. So if there were no rain, there could be no rainbows. Likewise, if there were no valleys in life, there could be no mountains. If there were no sorrow, there could be no happiness. So learn my friend to be comfortable with the silent times between the conversations. Learn to be comfortable with the dieting between the big meals. Learn to enjoy the plain skies between the rainbows. Unhappiness is a virtue and necessity of life.
