Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?Sýnishorn

You Can’t Depend on Others for Your Happiness

Our divorce courts today are overcrowded with husbands and wives seeking divorce simply on the grounds that their marriage gives them no happiness. One such divorced husband told me, “God bless my dear wife; she tried so hard. I gave that woman three of the best years of my life, hoping she could learn to understand me and make me feel like a man. She just didn’t have it in her. She simply did not know how to make me happy.”

That man will probably get married once or twice again, hoping a new wife will succeed where the first one failed. Some keep marching down the aisle with one new partner after another, trying desperately to find one understanding soul mate who will create happiness for them, but they seldom find it. Their misery and unhappiness increase with each new marriage partner.

No other human being on earth can create happiness for you. Why permit the actions of another to rob you of your peace and joy? 

I’m not one who cares much for formulas or how-to directions. But in my own experience, I have found a simple way to find a true happiness that does not depend on what others do. It is a happiness that does not come and go, and it is not affected by the moods, words or actions of people in my life, even those I love the most.

What is that secret? I have discovered that my needs are spiritual, not physical. Our basic human needs include food, water, shelter and the air we breathe. Beyond that, our needs are spiritual, and those needs can’t be met by any human being.

All unhappiness is a result of trying to meet our needs through human relationships. When another human being fails to meet our needs, we become frustrated and unhappy. 

Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). Not your husband or your wife, pastor, psychiatrist or your best friend, but God! 

There is not a Christian in this world who, deep in his heart, is not aware that God will help him. We know God can heal all our hurts; we know he can heal any marriage; we know he can wipe away every tear and bring joy. But we simply do not take the time or effort to run to him in our hour of need.

You can be happy. You can be a whole person, and you need never again lean on another human being. That is not to say we don’t need one another. We need the prayer, help and comfort of loving friends and family. But there can be no lasting happiness, if we expect others to create it for us.