When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life ~John Lennon.
Everybody wants to be happy in life. I have never met anyone who aims at being sad in life. No matter how a bad a situation one might find himself or herself in, there’s always the hope to be happy again. Happiness can be a combination of many feelings which include joy, contentment, pride, gratitude etc or even just one of them ( I didn’t just attempt to define happiness, lol). Happiness is relative; what makes me happy might not make you happy, but you know it when you feel it. Happiness is a wonderful thing. Our toils and sweat and all endeavours are geared towards happiness. I mean, who does not want to be happy?
Happiness like many other things in this world is not permanent. But no matter how short it may last, it is always a wonderful feeling to have. Imagine if happiness could be bought in shops, how the rich will pile it up in stock and how the poor will continue to rot in their poverty and sadness. But even the rich with all his wealth cannot buy happiness.
People find happiness in different things or doing different things. I read an article online some time ago and some writers were talking about what makes them happy. One of them said she found happiness when she stopped micro-managing her future. She had a dream even as a child and had clearly outlined them and at which age each of them should come to be. She got all even though not exactly how she had envisioned, but soon all of it came crashing down. She lost her job, her apartment, her marriage broke down, she went back to zero. She was depressed because of the high expectations she set for herself, she thought she had been a loser. She has then decided to live her life one day at a time, embrace each day as it comes and she has found happiness in that. Another said she simply finds happiness in her to-do list. When she writes to-do list and live by it, she feels everything is in order and she’s happy. Another one said she found happiness when she learnt to love her body.
These three people found happiness in three completely different things. Others find happiness in travelling. Some find happiness in singing, some in writing, some in sports, some in making other people happy and the list goes on. And oh, some find happiness in drugs and alcohol.
As I said earlier, happiness is temporary: no matter how long or how far you travel, you’ll still come back home, you can’t get high forever, you’ll be sober again.
But the good news is I found the formula for true and permanent happiness. You can really be happy forever. I know you are interested and eager to know what I’m going to say, just relax for me, that is all what this is about.
I know, that you know, that happiness is not found in one thing, and like I said above, different things make different people happy. But there are some things that can make everyone happy not matter their preferences, I know you agree with me. I may like football, you may not, but, we all love to see food on the table especially when we are starving, we become happy.
True happiness is found when you know somebody constantly cares about you and is constantly looking out for you. True happiness is found in knowing somebody loves you unconditionally and eternally. True happiness is when you know that someone is there to provide all you need sometimes without you even asking. True happiness is found in knowing somebody has laid down His life for you. And I am not talking about your parents or you husband/ wife or your boyfriend/ girlfriend, no, they cannot do these, I am talking about JESUS CHRIST. He is the formula for Happiness and I’m talking permanent happiness.
True happiness is not found in the world or anything in it, but it is found in Jesus and His word. He is not like man that disappoints or fails. The world and the things in it are just temporary, the one that finds happiness in it will only have it for a moment but the happiness in Christ is everlasting. He has promised us so many things, if only we’ll set our eyes on Him and trust in Him, He will give us joy unending. He says in Matthew 11:28, “come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
1 Peter 5:7 says, “ Cast all your anxieties upon Him for He cares”. I can go on and list all the verses in the bible, because the bible is all about His love for us. Jesus is the true source permanent happiness.
I want to admonish you today that, if you really want true and everlasting happiness, do not look beyond the cross, do not pass Jesus to look for Happiness in the world. You can’t put your trust in man or any creation, your own shadow even leaves you in darkness. Put your trust in Him who never leaves you, who is always there, when no one cares. He is there in times of sorrow, in time pain, in times of disappointment. You can always talk to Him and confide in Him. In Him there’s the fountain of joy and happiness. JESUS is the formula for true happiness.
For reading
Isaiah 9:33 Romans 15:13
Psalm 139:14 Psalm 100:3
Jeremiah 1:53 1 John 4:16
1 John 3:1-2 Romans 8:35
John 15: 16
WORDS OF INSPIRATION 