Pursuit of Happiness
When pondering happiness, so many people struggle to find that intangible emotion. Fulfillment and happiness go hand in hand. We may feel that our fulfillment is not being met due to dissatisfaction with the current state of our life. We feel like we are not living up to our potential, or maybe there are blocked career or financial goals. Whatever the case may be, true happiness can elude many.
Some pastors will enter into this equation with the words that Jesus is the key to happiness. Jesus wants you
to be happy; He loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Some even go so far as to say that God wants you to be financially well off and we must just have enough faith and then we will be fulfilled because our financial cup will overflow. The promise of happiness, even from these “Christian Pastors” is all based upon God giving you your desires.
The issue with this entire equation is that our happiness and fulfillment should not be found in fleshly goals. The Scriptures are clear: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasurethey are and were created.” -Revelation 4:11
We exist by and for God. As Christians, we should find our fulfillment in service to our King. Solomon once tested many things to see what would bring him fulfillment. The Scriptures tell us that he tested and tried many things, from sexual pleasure to great wealth and material gain; he denied himself nothing that his heart desired. He tells us that in all of this he found nothing but vanity. He concludes his thoughts with this statement: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” -Ecc. 12:13.
When we take our eyes off of our desires and turn them to Christ and how we best can serve Him, we will find fulfillment, because we find pleasure in serving God in whatever life he has decreed for us to live. And then we can, like the Apostle, sing even in chains and shackles; because our pleasure is found in the building of the Kingdom of Christ.
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