Do you know someone who is always joyful—someone you could confidently call the happiest person in the world? Let us suppose that you do know such a person. Unless that person is a member of your family whom you see all the time, it can be very difficult to judge how another person truly lives. We know that we can behave well in public and lead a double life, creating a certain image for ourselves. In that case, can I say of myself that I am happy? Not everyone will dare to make such a bold statement while remaining honest with themselves.
At least I can say that happiness is present in my life—not because I was born this way, but because I chose it and am engaged in a constant struggle with myself for my happiness.
Happiness is a great battle that takes place between my right ear and my left. I must constantly keep my mood, emotions, thoughts, and feelings under control and bring them into submission to my reason and will. At times, this is beyond my own strength, so I ask God for the strength and blessing to remain in this state no matter what happens. And He helps me and gives me His grace.
I am learning this, and I can see my progress. With God’s help, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And when my mind is in this state, I clearly understand what blessedness is, what laws govern happiness, and how they work. God does not leave me in ignorance about this. He does not teach me to be happy by guesswork, depending on chance or favorable circumstances. He sends revelations of His love and care and teaches me to build my happiness on a firm foundation, using eternal materials and values.
I have noticed that sometimes my happy heart forgets to tell my face what is happening inside me, and from the outside I do not always look like someone who is happy. People occasionally point this out to me. I agree with them, and this is something I also need to learn. A smile is the best testimony to the world that all is well within you—although smiles can be very different.
Happiness, however, can be divided into conditional happiness and true happiness. A person is usually happy when everything goes according to plan, when success and good fortune accompany him, when he achieves what he intended and worked toward, or when the temporary circumstances around him do not irritate or depress him but remain favorable and stable.
True happiness rests on a firm foundation, which is Christ. In other words, I believe in Him as my Savior and have a personal relationship with Him. When I come to know Jesus deeply and allow Him to know me and take part in every area of my life, joy fills me. This enables me to discover the laws of happiness and live by them. Such happiness is more enduring than conditional happiness. It is true because it rests on eternal principles that do not change; as long as I follow them and live by them, I have every opportunity and every right to be happy always. And in all of this, my choice plays the leading role.
Happiness is not something that suddenly fell upon me, leaving me unsure what to do with it. It is an entire science that must be studied, comprehended, understood, tested, and proven throughout one’s life by making a continual choice. This is exactly how we should live.
Difficulties and difficult people are a continual test of my happiness, and trying situations are the best training ground for my will. Yet the most troublesome opponent is within me. It is called the old self, or the flesh, which constantly pulls me toward sin if I stop holding it down.
Time passes, and I become so accustomed to living in happiness that at times I even forget to ask for it. I simply enter into it early in the morning after my morning prayer and remain in that state throughout the day. And God blesses me in this for His own sake.
When my daughter was little, I would take her to the sandbox, and we would make little sand cakes. She was happy that I was nearby, that I was with her, and that I was helping her. At that moment, I was not thinking about the terrible trials she would have to endure in her life or wondering whether she would be as happy then as she was now. I simply played with her and cared about her small joy and her safety.
Perhaps, in God’s eyes, my present struggle for happiness resembles a game in a sandbox. But He does not rebuke me for it. Instead, He sits down beside me and helps me make my little ‘sand cakes’ while telling me about His love. He teaches me to trust.
Yet no matter how small my happiness may be, I see that when I begin sharing it with others and telling them about its laws, their lives become better, more joyful, and more interesting. Their worldview changes, and what once seemed like darkness becomes a blessing that opens the door to the land of happiness. What joy it is to realize that someone’s life became better because I entered it and simply helped a little. Sometimes my support consists of leading people to Jesus and explaining that God is better than they imagine Him to be, and that sin is an evil that must be fought.
God did not intend for a sinful person to be happy and live in blessedness. Sin is destructive. It ruins everything, robs us of peace, and kills love. It has a tendency to grow: though it may be small now and seem harmless, over time it gains strength, sends down deep roots, and scatters evil seeds all around it. God does not plan to perpetuate sin or place the seal of His happiness upon it.
But happiness comes when the soul is cleansed from the dominion of sin and finds freedom in Jesus Christ. A person who has received forgiveness and deliverance from the bonds of evil becomes truly happy and, if he chooses, can always remain in this frame of mind.
Our world was not created as a place for happy people to live. It is only a school of happiness in which we are all learning and hoping for a better world and a better time, which will soon come with the return of our Lord Jesus. But while we are here and alive, the struggle for happiness will not end.
It is striking that we live in an age of unhappy people. Unhappiness has become the normal way of life, and we do not even realize that we are unhappy. Instead, we think that we are rich, well clothed, and in need of nothing. But the Lord says, ‘And knowest not that thou art wretched...’ He continues to expose our miserable condition while also giving us counsel on how to escape it.
But people are stubborn. They devise all kinds of theories about the human soul and make various discoveries simply to convince themselves that they can be happy without God—or that they can believe in Him, live in sin, and pretend that God neither notices nor pays attention to it. After all, they say, the main thing is simply to believe!
Sin and true happiness are two different things. Conditional happiness may adapt to a life of sin, but such a person has no future. All he has is this short earthly life, which can be unpredictable. Every day, so many people reach the end of life grieving that they did many things wrong and can no longer undo them. They leave us valuable advice that changes very little in our lives. Only God can bring about radical improvement. And in Him are happiness, love, and friendship.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Jeremiah 33:3; Philippians 4:13; Proverbs 15:13; 17:22; 2 Timothy 3:1–5; Isaiah 14:3–4; 1 Corinthians 9:27; Galatians 4:6–7, 9