Because I'm Happy

And they lived Happily Ever After...

Except they didn't.
Until unhappiness do us part...

We look for happiness in all of the wrong things...or perhaps our first failure is that we look for happiness at all.

Do you want to be happy? I do. I think everyone does. We love feeling happy. We tend to do many things with the sole purpose of feeling happy. We spend time with people who make us happy, do activities that make us happy, even eat foods that make us happy. Yet, even when we have many moments of happiness, we are bound to have moments of unhappiness. Some of these moments might add up to be hours, days, maybe even months of feeling this way. I think in part, this is because we rely on things or people to make us happy. Things break, get lost or stolen. People break, get lost or stolen. They say and do things that are hurtful, they break our trust, they let us down. We do the same thing to people we love. Is it because we don't care? No, it's because we are human. We mess up, we make mistakes. When you rely on another person for your happiness, you're setting yourself up for pain, hurt and rejection at some point or another, because no one will be perfect all of the time. This expectation can also be extremely damaging to relationships. Some people think that since a person is not fulfilling their duty to make them happy, they will be better off looking to someone else to meet this need. Someone else will understand them better and be able to meet the requirements to make them happy. Except eventually, they'll mess up too. They'll fall short. You see...a big part of the problem is, that happiness is an emotion. It changes. It's often circumstantial. It won't always sustain. Another part of the problem could be things you need to fix in your own heart, and guess what, wherever you go...there you are. You cannot run away from yourself or your problems. You'll likely just exchange one problem for another and destroy priceless, irreplaceable relationships in the process.

Back to the seeking of happiness. I think we have this so twisted. We think of happiness as something we deserve. We think of it as a goal that we need to constantly work to achieve. There is something far greater than happiness though and that is joy.

I believe that true joy is found in a relationship with Jesus. Not in being religious, not in having expensive things and not in having great people in your life. When you have a relationship with Jesus, you will find joy even in the hard times. Joy is not something people can take from you. It's not an emotion that changes with the tide. It is rooted in the firm foundation of the promises and hope we have in Christ. It is rooted in His love for us. It cannot be shaken. It is everlasting.

When you know these truths and begin to live them out, living a life with God at the center, you will gain such freedom from the heavy burdens you were carrying and from the expectations you had in others to fulfill your needs. It will also be relieving for those in who you were holding responsible for your happiness.

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