Lies I Believe Part 1: God Just Wants Me to Be HappySýnishorn

THE TRUTH

Reflection:

Remember, Satan’s goal is to distort God’s truth, to destroy what God made good. And his false doctrine of happiness has left a trail of despair and brokenness through every era of human existence. This false doctrine says that whatever makes me happy must be right, and whatever makes me unhappy must be wrong. All discomfort, delay, risk, suffering, inconvenience, and obstacles must not be from God. The pursuit of happiness means pursuing personal comfort, wealth, pleasure, status, and the accumulation of things.

The tragedy- the genius of Satan- is that so many people end up walking away from God and walking away from the Christian faith because of this false belief. They say, “I tried God, I tried Christianity, I tried church, and it just didn’t work for me.” Why didn’t it “work?” Because God didn’t give me what I wanted. He didn’t make me happy.

The Truth is that God doesn’t promise comfort, ease, wealth, status, or stuff. No one in the Old or New Testament, no one in Church history got all of that. In fact, for most, their lives were marked by hardship, pain, or by suffering. God doesn’t promise His people happiness.

What does God promise? He promises that He will never leave us through the good times and the hardest times. God promises an incomprehensible peace. God promises an unfailing love. God promises His provision for our (real) needs. God promises a future restoration of all things. He made those promises centuries ago, and He has never broken them.

Satan lies. God speaks the truth. He is a promise-keeper.

Ask Yourself:

How much of your daily life is oriented around your comfort, status, wealth, or pleasure?

How has God provided for your peace, hope, joy, or needs in the past?

Pause to Pray:

Jesus, teach me how to live in your abundant life...

Take the Next Step:

Take your eyes off yourself today. Intentionally seek to meet a need for someone else. Does someone need a word of encouragement? Do they need to go before you in the check-out line? Do they need a conversation? A meal? A hug or high five?