By: Lori Wilhite, Pastor
All of us are chasing happy in some form everyday. We chase happy in our relationships and in the hunt for success and material gain. We chase happy through the next adventure or escape. We chase happy in a variety of empty promises to quench what we desperately thirst for. For all of our chasing, we keep discovering a dryness, a barrenness, a void that hardens our souls rather than filling them. Why? Because we’re chasing the wrong kind of happy. We chase physical, emotional, and temporary happiness instead of the spiritual, eternal happiness found in Jesus.
Sometimes, we have a hard time believing God even wants us to be happy. I’ve heard it said that God cares more about our holiness than our happiness like the two are somehow disconnected. But what if the pursuit of happiness was actually adjacent to the pursuit of holiness? As we fill ourselves with more of God, we are filled with the joy, gladness, rejoicing, and happiness we are meant to know.
That’s why the pages of the Bible are filled with those words.
- From Psalm 68:3 when David declares, “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful” (NIV).
- To John 15:11 when Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (NIV).
- In Psalm 100 verse 2, the psalmist sings, “Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy” (NLT).
- From Matthew 5 where Jesus teaches “Happy are those who mourn . . . happy are those who are humble . . . happy are the merciful . . .” (GNT).
- To Philippians 4:4 where Paul says to “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (NLT).
Joy, gladness, rejoicing, and happiness are meant to be experienced. The problem isn’t that God doesn’t want us to be happy. The problem is that we’re chasing happy in the wrong things, looking for it in all the wrong places. Happiness is ours, joyfulness is found, delight is experienced, gladness is within our reach when we chase God’s joy, His purpose, His unity, His contentment, and His peace. Happy is captured when we chase Him.