Doesn't God Want Me To Be Happy?
I. Introduction
A. A question heard more often in recent days
B. Doesn't God just want me to be happy?
C. A not too surprising question
1. If there is an "American gospel," it involves discovering
"happiness"
2. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to just "life,
liberty, happiness"
3. How many search out the next thing or fad that makes them
"happy"?
D. Nevertheless, a good question to consider
E. Does God want us to be happy?
II. Happiness in the World?
A. The answer to the question is "yes, but..."
1. Yes, God does want us to be happy!
2. But...what does it mean to be "happy"?
B. Happiness a constant pursuit in America, and most of the time it
involves certain activities
1. Obtaining of money, additional "stuff"
2. Sexual satisfaction
3. Drug use
4. Becoming famous or popular
5. Hobbies, sports teams, other such passions
6. Vacationing
C. How many spend great effort and resources into these endeavors,
seeking fulfillment?
D. Yet do they really fulfill? Do they really make you "happy"?
E. As God has already established, such things cannot really
satisfy!
1. 1 John 2:15-17: such things are passing away
2. Matthew 6:19: decay and loss even in this world
3. Ecclesiastes 2:1-11: what gain is there, really, in all
such toil?
F. A sobering, if not challenging, reality
1. None of these provide true, lasting happiness
2. None endure forever-- things perish in their use or will
perish some day
3. We cannot take them with us (Ecclesiastes 2:18)
4. Many such things lose their enjoyment after continuous use
5. In the midst of suffering or difficulty, what enjoyment is
there in these things?
G. Happiness, therefore, is not to be found in these endeavors!
1. While they may produce feelings of happiness temporarily,
they do not really satisfy
2. They either produce highs that lead to crashes or lose their
enjoyment factor over time
3. Enjoyable? Perhaps. Leading to true happiness? Not a
chance!
H. How, then, can we truly be "happy"?
III. Finding True Happiness
A. Hear the Preacher
1. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
2. After getting discouraged at the conclusion of all striving
after pleasure, the Preacher recognizes that humans must find
enjoyment through being "in" God
3. True happiness can only be found through God!
B. Well, how does God define "happiness"?
1. The Scripture provides great witness to this!
2. "Blessed": Greek makarios, "blessed, happy"
3. Thus, those who are "blessed" are fortunate or happy!
C. Who, in the New Testament, are thus blessed, fortunate, or happy?
1. Matthew 5:3-11, Luke 6:20-22: the poor in spirit, those who
mourn, meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, those persecuted for
righteousness' sake, the reviled, the hungry, the weeping
2. Luke 14:12-14: those who have a banquet for the poor who
cannot repay the favor
3. Acts 20:35: more blessed to give than to receive
4. How are all these people more blessed or fortunate? It does
not sound so great!
5. It is not as if there is necessarily greater virtue in
mourning, being hungry, weeping-- they all speak to a
condition of the heart and an openness to God!
6. All these various people are fortunate in that their
conditions, actions, or heart leads them to what really makes
happy!
7. Those who are truly blessed, fortunate, or happy: Romans 4:7-8
(those whose sins forgiven), Galatians 3:9 (those of faith),
James 1:25 (those who hear the law of liberty and do it),
James 5:11 (those who are steadfast), 1 Peter 3:14 (those who
suffer for righteousness' sake), 1 Peter 4:14 (those insulted
for Christ's name), Revelation 14:13 (those who die in
Christ), Revelation 16:15 (those who stand firm until He
returns), Revelation 19:9 (those invited to the marriage of
the Lamb), Revelation 20:6 (those in the first resurrection),
Revelation 22:14 (those who wash their robes)
8. In short: those who are truly fortunate, or happy, are
obedient servants of Jesus Christ!
D. How can this be? Why are servants of God truly "happy"?
1. All searching for happiness is the implicit admission that we
have fundamental discontent with our existence
a. Something is just not quite right
b. We suffer from dis-ease or discontent
c. We are not satisfied in ourselves
2. All searching for pleasure or happiness is the attempt to
fulfill this hole, this discontent in our lives
3. That discontent is there for a reason!
a. Something is not quite right-- we have been separated from
our Creator!
b. Isaiah 59:1-2
c. Acts 17:26-27: God put it within us to seek after Him
4. That discontent can only be satisfied when we discover the
love and peace that is in God through Christ Jesus!
a. Ephesians 1:3-14, Philippians 4:7
b. Such can only be understood in the context of association
with God (1 John 1)!
5. Searching for happiness in all other places cannot lead to
the ultimate happiness found in Jesus Christ
a. Earthly pleasures are but a shadow or false imitation of
the true happiness in Christ
b. Earthly riches are uncertain and decay; spiritual riches
are maintained in Heaven and will not decay
(Matthew 6:19-20, 1 Timothy 6:17-19)
c. Sexual pleasure is an attempt to find connection that is
temporary; the most intimate relationship possible is only
found between a man and his God (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12,
Ephesians 5:22-32)
d. Drug use produces a false high, an attempt to escape
reality; God can transform that reality (Titus 3:3-8,
1 Corinthians 6:11)
6. Such happiness can transcend any difficulty!
a. What happens when one gets older, experiences terrible
tragedy, great illness, loss of function, poverty, or
other trials?
b. What can still make you happy then?
c. Confidence in the love of God and the hope of the glory
that awaits the Christian can provide fulfillment in such
difficult times (Romans 8, 1 Peter 1:3-9)
d. With an unshakeable confidence in God, one can endure any
difficulty!
E. But what about these other matters?
1. It is not as if we cannot enjoy life-- we simply must remember
that we cannot find our ultimate fulfillment in pleasures of
life!
2. God created many things for us to enjoy, not to worship
(Romans 1:19-25)!
3. Material resources are fine if combined with humility,
benevolence, and contentment (1 Timothy 6)
4. Sex is to be enjoyed in the construct of one man and one
woman in the marriage relationship (Hebrews 13:4)
5. We can enjoy hobbies and other passions as long as we maintain
our focus on God's Kingdom (Matthew 6:33)
6. We would do well to find enjoyment in the "little things" of
life, relationships and effort, as the Preacher encourages
(Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, 9:7-10)
7. All such things must be tempered with the recognition that all
earthly things are destined to perish, and all that will
remain are God, Christ, and our souls (2 Peter 3:10-12,
1 John 2:15-17)!
F. It is clear, therefore, that God seeks for us to be happy,
finding true and enduring happiness in being His obedient
servant!
IV. Conclusion
A. God does want us to be happy
1. That happiness may not be the sources of enjoyment that the
world advertises, but it is far more valuable!
2. God takes no pleasure in sin and does not seek to justify it
3. But God does want us to be happy-- happy, humble, thankful,
content servants of His Son!
B. Happiness, therefore, cannot really be found in the world's
pursuits
C. Happiness is only found through our relationship with God
1. He gave us life and the blessings of the world (Genesis 1)
2. He gave of His Son so that we can be reconciled to Him
(Romans 5:6-11)
3. He now gives us every spiritual blessing and will give us
all things (Ephesians 1:3, Romans 8:32)
4. For those who serve Him, no matter what the circumstances,
He holds out the promise of eternal life and glory beyond
imagination (Romans 8:18, Revelation 21-22)
D. Do not fall prey to counterfeit enjoyments-- seek after true
happiness in Christ!
E. Invitation/songbook