Text: Psalm 126 | Listen To Message

I Just Want to Be Happy

 

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal once wrote, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end…. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” (Pensees, VII, “Morality And Doctrine,” #425)

Whether you agree with Pascal’s superlatives or not, surely you agree that everyone wants to be happy.

Oddly enough, some Christians react as if this desire is a bad thing. And so they make statements like this: “God wants you to be holy, not happy.” Or, “God promises joy, not happiness.” Baloney. God wants you to holy and happy and joyful.

Just read the Christmas Story in Luke 2. The Advent is Good News, in part, because Jesus came to bring “great joy for all the people.” And let’s be clear: Jesus didn’t merely command joy; he caused joy. He caused joy by breaking the power of our fears. He caused joy by exposing the lies that phony masters use to control us. He caused joy by taking all our griefs and sorrows on himself. He caused joy by removing all the barriers to us experiencing friendship with God. And he caused joy by spreading his own infectious happiness as far as the curse is found.

Life is filled with people and circumstances that’ll crush your happiness and leave you feeling broken and sad. And the more you focus on those things, the more your unhappiness becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But here is the perspective you need if you want to be ridiculously happy:

Even when your situation doesn’t warrant happiness, your Savior does! [Which also means your situation is not your whole situation, if you keep your eyes on Christ!] Yes, there will always be things that could rob you of your joy; but when you view those things through the lens of what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do, you have the hope that drives away fear. And you have real joy that cannot be shaken.