This week we’ll be finishing up our series on Happiness. We’ve been looking at the Sermon on the Mount and checking out what Jesus had to say to us about real happiness.
My hope tonight is to help us understand how to stay grounded in our relationship with the Lord so firmly that we handle anything without losing our ‘joy’ (happiness).
To better get a grasp of Happiness, I thought I’d look at some Opposites of Happiness.
This isn’t a complete list, but it’ll do: Slide- Depression, despair, discouragement , disappointment, displeasure, disturbed, dissatisfaction, down, miserable, gloom, melancholy, misery, pain, sadness, sorrow, sadness, troubled, unhappiness, unfortunate, upset, woe, worry
Wow…I think I just dropped the happiness level of the whole room just by reading these words!
If any of these words apply to your current circumstances, or overall disposition, youre in luck! I know the solution!
Standard definition:
(Happiness: the state of being happy)
Webster’s def-
hap·py
adjective \ˈha-pē\
: feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, etc.
: showing or causing feelings of pleasure and enjoyment
: pleased or glad about a particular situation, event, etc
I am not ‘Happy’ with the standard definition!
The implication is that if your current ‘life, situation, etc… is negative, you can’t be happy.
Biblical definition- Happiness can be defined as a feeling of spiritual contentment that will carry you through the triumphs, pitfalls, or even heartaches of life with calm stability, serenity, peace of mind, and tranquility (matt. 5:3–12).
Now we’re getting closer! Happiness may or may not be related to the happenings in your life. In many instances, the outward happenings in a life affect our attitudes. However, happiness is also an act of the will!
We all have things “happen” in our lives that give us reason to be unhappy, but we have the power through Christ to make our own response to those happenings. Happiness is a potential positive choice.
BLESSED
˒ashre (אֶשֶׁר, 835), “blessed; happy.”
Basically, this word connotes the state of “prosperity” or “happiness” that comes when a superior bestows his favor (blessing) on one. In most passages, the one bestowing favor is God Himself: Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, (Deut. 33:29).
Since God is the source of everything, he never changes, and our position ‘Child of God’, is likewise unchangeable. Our circumstances may change, but God is always still God. And we are always His children.
The state that the blessed one enjoys does not always appear to be “happy”:
17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 lFor He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.
(Job 5:17-18).
This isn’t describing Job’s condition as a happy one; it was “blessed,” however, inasmuch as God was concerned about him - it was a blessed state and the outcome would be good.
The point here is that the state of Happiness is about our connection to the Father, not the particular circumstances we find ourselves in!
How then can we ‘rise above’ our circumstances and find this deep happiness?
Overcoming Anti-Happiness
(I actually came across this idea in something written by Churck Swindoll- thought it was perfect!)
Proverbs 3:5–6
The following passage is so well known to most Christians that we have perhaps missed its significant message. Read slowly the words of Solomon:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5–6)
Before you just say, 'is that it? I know that already!' Let’s go back and read these words again, this time aloud!
My Part, God's Part
Let's look a bit closer. I'd like to suggest three important observations in what we just read.
First, there are four verbs—words of action—in these two verses:
Trust
do not lean
acknowledge
make straight
A closer look will reveal the first three verbs are commands. They are directed to the child of God, the Christian. They represent our responsibility.
Trust . . . do not lean . . . acknowledge. . . .
The fourth verb is a promise!
It declares God's part in the transaction, His responsibility.
He will make your paths straight.
Also notice- The same term is used no less than four times. Look again at the verses. Circle the word your. God is really emphasizing the personal nature of this truth.
He is also telling us we must enter into it individually—no one else can apply it for us.
Your responsibility in your circumstances is to trust with all your heart . . . and to refuse to lean on your own understanding . . . acknowledging Him in all your ways . . . so that He might make straight your paths.
Responding to life's situations is your choice.
No one else can do it for you.
One final observation: The first phrase is linked to the last phrase, giving us the main idea. (Trust . . . He will make straight.) The two middle phrases merely amplify the main idea. (Do not lean . . . acknowledge.) Let me explain.
I am to trust in my Lord without hesitation and without reservation—with all my heart—so that He might step in and take control, making my way meaningful and straight. And what is involved in trusting with all my heart? Two particular decisions: one negative, the other positive.
Negatively, I am not to lean on my own understanding.
Positively, I am to acknowledge Him in the whole battleground.
The Personal Amplified Version
We've taken a deep look into these verses and examined the vital parts. Taking into account the meanings behind several significant terms, we can put the thought back together and see the whole picture in a new light.
(Your name), throw yourself completely upon the Lord—that is, cast all my present and future needs on Him who is my intimate Savior-God—finding in Him my security and safety. I do this with all my mind and feeling and will. In order to make this possible, I must refuse to support myself upon the crutch of human ingenuity. Instead, I recognize His presence and concern in each one of my circumstances. Then He, having taken full control of the situation will thoroughly smooth out and straighten my paths, handling each obstacle along the way.
Applying Your Personalized Version
As I think all this through, several specific truths seem to bounce off the pages of Scripture:
This is a personal promise for anxiety-prone people to claim right now. God has preserved this statement just for you.
God will do His part, but first we must do our part. He will keep His promise if we obey His commands. Keep in mind that our response to His commands precedes His part in the transaction.
God wants our total trust. Yes, total. Nothing held back. No games. No empty, pious-sounding words. No, He commands our absolute confidence.
There is no area which He is unable to handle. Did you note the twice-repeated "all"? God is a specialist in every circumstance. That includes yours. Today.
Since this promise is to be personally applied, how about filling in the blank with your current stress right now?
Instead of reading:
. . . .in all your ways recognize Him, and He will smooth out your path, removing all obstacles.
you fill in the space: . . . in _______________________ recognize Him . . .
Right this moment, take that worry that is eating away at you like a rapidly growing cancer, and turn it over to Him as you write or envision it in that blank space.
Refuse to brood over it any longer! Cast aside doubt and fear and leave it all with Him. Then stand back and watch Him work.
Let’s all agree to live Happy and Blessed! Amen?
