Happiness

I’ve spent a chunk of time contemplating happiness this week.  I see so many people striving for happiness. For themselves. For their kids.  The next big trip. The easy path. The experience. The new. The exciting. The never ending search for something to cram in that God shaped hole in their heart.

The thing is those are all fleeting things.  Dust.

I was challenged on my view.  Surely, as a parent, I want happiness for my children.  I don’t. I want holiness.

See God promises joy, not happiness.  Joy isn’t fleeting. Joy is a gift from God.  Happiness is a feeling. Dopamine. Happiness is insubstantial, where joy is enduring.

Life can be so hard.  Sometimes our lack of happiness is due to the consequences of our choices.  Sometimes, for seemingly unknown reasons, other than the fact we live in a fallen world, these circumstances seem to befall us.  The thing is, it isn’t accidental. God knew we needed this trial to be who we need to be to reach heaven.

I’m not here to make my children happy (I’m also not here to make them miserable...most of the time!).

I can’t step in and remove each discomfort that would be used to shape their character and expect them to grow.  I don’t know how God will shape and prune them to fit them into the kingdom, just the way He needs them.

And after I was challenged about my assertion that I really didn’t want my children to be happy (if that’s not what they need).  I talked to the kids about it. Guess what. They weren’t surprised. They know I’m not out to get them, that we make choices to do things they want, but, thankfully, they know happiness is not our goal.

Heaven is.  Loving Jesus.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

    I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor,

    and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

    and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

    nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

The law of the Lord is perfect,

    refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

    making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

    giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

    giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:7-8