I will be happy when....

Of course you have said it, "I will be happy when this circumstance pans out". The question is not if we say and think that, but how often we do. What is life designed to do, make us happy? Is our real purpose to be "happy"? So often we live as if the goal of life, that is, the reason for our existence is nothing more than to be happy. Now, I like being happy and I like convenience, but I have to ask, is that really why I exist? If happiness is the purpose of existence, we are in for a miserable, empty life.

The philosophical principle that drives most Americans is simple, happiness is the highest good and my circumstances must always be easy and without hardship. The hardest lesson for people to learn is that we were born to experience trials and affliction. In fact, from birth we are created to experience pain, grief, hardship, and affliction. I am sure that as you read this, you think I am crazy because we have been lulled to sleep with the subtle lie that happiness is what is most important. But consider with me for moment a few things that may show you the evidence of the matter.

Happiness, the most prominent reason for divorce in our country is irreconcilable differences. Now, I am no lawyer, but I have witnessed divorce, and I can tell you that irreconcilable difference is another way of saying, "I am not happy any more with this particular person." Is the chief end of marriage happiness, because I always thought that marriage was about love and sacrifice. I thought marriage was about laying yourself down for the good of another. As a married man, I am happy with my wife, but even when I am not, that never changes the fact that I love her.

Happiness, our children are taught from day one, that they exist to be made happy. In an age where self esteem rules the day and we are more worried about our children's temporal happiness rather than the eternal state of their heart, we are seeing the dividends of such a philosophy. As a man who has worked with teens for almost 10 years, I see first hand what this "happiness" principle is doing to our children. We are raising children who are apathetic, rebellious, and convinced that the world exists to benefit them. I see a generation of young people are disillusioned and indifferent, primarily because they see that happiness is such a fleeting thing and yet they have been programed to live with happiness as the highest good. It is enough to make one cry out and say, "who shall deliver us from this..."

So, life goes on to the tune of, "I will be happy if...", "I will be happy when..." And so I ask you, when does it really stop? In Psalm 17, we find a very curious detail. David says in the final verse, "...when I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness." Happiness or the lack thereof is really about being satisfied. Being satisfied however is deeper than being happy, it is being joyful and content. It is being at peace with circumstance and life. One can be content and not be happy; one can experience joy in the midst of pain. Joy and contentment flow from one place, God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. David speaks truly when he says that the essence of satisfaction is being an imitator of God. God created us to reflect His image to the world, not to be happy in the humanistic sense. When was the last time that we prayed for God's grace to go one more mile rather than deliverance from pain? When was the last time we prayed for peace rather than prosperity?

Happiness is not the chief end of man, holiness is! We all seek happiness, when was the last time that we genuinely prayed for God to make us holy?