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Does God Want You to Be Happy?

I’ve had people write me and describe the ways in which they have found real happiness after knowing God. I’ve seen this myself. I have witnessed people who have gone from physically looking ill, depressed, and miserable to people having faces that literally glow.

The difference is those people’s faces were aglow with the Lord. They were not aglow with a new BMW or a 1700 square foot condo. Their faces shone with the Light of the Lord.

So, to that end, yes, I do believe that God can and does allow us tremendous happiness in knowing and serving Him. I have never known more contentment, joy, or fulfillment than in knowing and loving Christ….

But (and it’s a big “but”)….

I do not believe that the Christian life is the guarantee of a happy or easy life.

The opposite might actually be true. So while I have seen people radically transformed into beaming, smiling, joy-filled believers, I have also witnessed individuals suffer greatly for following Jesus.

Do we forget that He said that He would pit mother against daughter, father against son, brother against brother? Do we forget that Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword?

He came to bring life, yes, but following Him also requires daily death to one’s self. This is not always happy, nor should it be.

Yet, what I think it comes down to is determining where our happiness lies. Are we seeking happiness in the daily, trivial, and often uncertain moments of life, or are we seeking the happiness found by being rooted in Christ? I believe God is much more apt to grant the latter.

God’s people should be a happy people. We should be beaming, but beaming for Him and because of Him. Knowing this does not mean following after Christ is always a perfectly happy pursuit. It simply means we can trust that despite the tribulations we will undoubtedly face, we can always trust in Him…and that brings a smile to my face every time.

There is SO much more I could say on this topic, but I’m limited to a blog post.

So let’s hear it…Do you agree or disagree? Do you think God wants us to be happy? Why or why not? What have your own personal experiences with happiness looked like?