Does God want me Happy?
Does God want you Happy?
Solomon had great wealth and the most beautiful women in the world were at his command. People from all over the world came to see him and brought gifts. They wanted to spend just a moment in his presence and perhaps hear him share great wisdom.
Solomon built the first temple to God. It was a stunning work of art and architecture. He ruled Israel for 40 years. Yet for all he accomplished and all the possessions he acquired he wrote these words:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.” (Ecc. 1:2)
Does God want me happy? That’s definitely the wrong question. A quick study of humanity including the example of Solomon reveals we do not have a clue, as to what real happiness looks like. After all we live on a broken planet filled with broken people. Broken by sin. We have never seen things the way God originally intended. Adam was the first and last man to see an unbroken planet.
Read the rest of Solomon’s remarks in Ecclesiastes chapter one and you will certainly connect. We have all felt this way.
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them. (Ecc. 1:3-11)
Pretty depressing stuff, right? We have all been here. Yes, we have moments of what we call happiness. Some last longer than others. But deep inside there is a discontentment. Given an audience it presents it’s case for despair. We are broken. Our planet is broken. Our government is broken. Humanity is broken.
What are we to do with this unhappiness? There is no easy answer. I can list the steps but they are easier on the eye than they are on the mind. Fundamental change in the way we view life is required.
“I am convinced that it is likely, even probable, that God does not want you happy in this brokenness”
I am convinced that it is likely, even probable, that God does not want you happy in this brokenness
“The danger is, we believe we can.”
As God defines happiness we cannot achieve it in this brokenness. The danger is, we believe we can. Our efforts to achieve it will produce only a façade. This façade may prevent us from making God, God in our lives. It will cloud the very truth of what happiness really looks like.
(Pt. 1 Does God want me Happy)
Pastor Alan Kirkpatrick