“Does God really want me to be Happy?”

“I know God wants me to be happy.” Have you ever heard that statement before? You know what? That’s one of the most pathetic statements I’ve ever heard before. Hey, don’t get me wrong alright. I’m a Christian and I’m not that negative about happiness. In the contrary, I’m positive about it.

But if you are in the ministry or desiring to pursue God, I would advise you not to go further if you’re principle in life is that God would grant you a happy life. I had the opportunity of researching the word ‘happiness’ in the Bible and it did not come up as many as expected. And when it comes up in the search, it is usually connected with joy, with the senses, with God and even as a thing as senseless as “chasing the wind”.

Why would I advise you to stay away from the pursuit of God if all you want is happiness? Let’s look at the example how Jesus called the First Disciples, He said, “Come, follow me and I will show you how to fish for people!”(Matt. 4:19). Mind you, Jesus did not say, “Come, follow me and I’ll make you happy!”. Nope. He was saying, “Come, follow me and you’ll find joy like you’ve never had before. Joy you’ll never find in your boats and nets and fish- of the temporary fills that still come up empty. Come and follow me and you’ll find joy in the work I will ask of you.”

And yet people still don’t get it even those who claim to be Christians and followers of Christ. They think that if they accept Christ they’ll be happy. ‘Happiness’ in the dictionary is, ‘Emotions experienced when in a state of well-being’ and ‘well-being’ means ‘state of being happy and healthy and prosperous’. Happiness is a state that is greatly determined by the physical, the emotions and what you posses. But what if you are not healthy and really sick? What if you just lost someone you dearly loved? What if your house is going to be taken away from you? What if you just lost your job? Would you still be happy? I think not and you wouldn’t be happy at all. And you know what? That’s the very picture of following Christ. In Hebrews 11 or the ‘Faith Chapter’, it said;

“Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; [Some early manuscripts stoned; they were put to the test;] they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated —the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not scaring you, but this is one of the realities of following Jesus. He did not say that when you’re with Him, you’ll be really happy and all you are experiencing right now will be gone. Actually, most of the time you’ll be experiencing this ‘unhappiness’.  His disciples did and Jesus himself. Have you forgotten that very night before He was captured and put into trial, the night were He knelt at the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating with blood and tears because of his agony. Oh! What a picture of happiness right?

To those who lived or living a life right now in Christ who thinks that Jesus owes you your happiness because you gave your life to Jesus, I’m really sorry to burst your bubble. Even Jesus did not live a happy life. He had to go through the covering of shame for she was pregnant before marriage. To grow up as a carpenter’s son, Jesus lived a life of toil with his calloused hands and sweat.  And lastly, to live a life with a revelation that you are to lay it down for the very people who rejected you; to endure every blow, pain and jeer and to die a humiliating and painful death. Jesus did not live a very happy life, for if happiness is based on the outside, Jesus didn’t have it all, death was constant in his list and as he would say to those who would dare follow Him, “…but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”.

            The question still remains; does God really want me to be happy? It’s a matter of perspective, seeing it not with your human eyes but with the eyes of God, our Loving Father. It’s like when you were really young and you really wanted candy (everybody knows candies really make a child happy) but your parents won’t give you that coz it will either ruin your appetite or your teeth.” God won’t always give you your happiness if it will ruin you.

Let’s make another example but will take it a higher notch. Pre-marital sex. Sex is good and it was never a bad thing for God created it. And yes, when you engage in sex it will make you happy. But God says No if it is done OUTSIDE His blessing. Because God doesn’t want you to be happy for just a moment. He wants you to experience it, the happiness of His creation that is sex to the fullest without hindrance of fear, shame and guilt through the freedom in marriage.

God’s purpose in our lives is not just to make you happy- he wanted you to have Joy that transcends the boundaries of emotions and temporary fills. To have joy and love and hope and peace even if everything is not working out. I didn’t mean that the suffering is constant when you follow Christ. But we must never exclude and forget that it will surely come for if we are to share in Christ’s glory someday, we are also to share in His suffering (Rom.8:17).

If we have the perfect example, it would be Jesus. He might not have a comfortable and happy life but what He had was a fulfilled and joyful life. Coz He did what His heavenly Father wanted Him to do when He said, “I did not come to do my will but the will of my Father.” He lived a life that was not willing to settle here on earth for He knew that there is more to life here. That His glory awaits Him on the Other Side.  That there He will finally experience the fullness of His Joy- to be with His Father.

So what’s the answer? It’s Yes. God wants you to be happy, He wants the best for His children in every aspect- physical, emotional, intellectual, financial and especially Spiritual. But it is also a No. For God doesn’t want you to be too comfortable, too ‘settled in’ here on Earth or you might forget the fullness of His happiness that can only be found beyond this temporary place. We are made for more than this. To God be the Glory!  

Matthew 25:21

“His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’