5-Day Devotional To A Life Of Unwavering HopeНамуна

 We have an ache. It is a valid one. Of course we long to be endlessly loved; we are made in the image of a God who is endlessly loving. We ache with desire because we are meant for a life that is not yet ours. We try to escape the sorrow out of fear that the sorrow will smother whatever hope of happiness remains. We run to a quick fix because we know our hearts need fixing.

The full list of happy quick fixes available would fill a book. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins are the quartet of neurotransmitters that make you feel happy, God bless them. Getting a text on your phone releases dopamine, and so does just looking at it. Maybe you were wondering why some people admit to feeling glued to their cell phones. It provides a happy jolt. So does sugar. So does alcohol. The list is long, and some of the items on it bear the potential for much more harm than others.

I love feeling happy. Absolutely love it. Who doesn’t? But my pursuit of it has sometimes gotten me into trouble. I’m pretty sure it’s gotten you into trouble too.

Sometimes I wonder if, in our mad pursuit of happiness, we run right past the joy that might be ours. We work hard to change our circumstances or change ourselves so that we might be happy. We get ourselves into addictive behaviors (exercise, by the way, is also very addicting; so is organizing your life). Then we work hard to get ourselves out of our addictions, which sometimes only makes matters worse. And all the while, God is right beside us with a gentle invitation to joy. But we can’t hear that invitation while we are focused on whatever it is we think has to happen in order to make us happy.

If we want to live in the power of Jesus’ resurrection, we must first pass through the crucifixion. We must stop running. Self-soothing may last for a moment, but that moment may become a doorway to a cell. Jesus came to set us free, and in Him we can be. But we will not be free if we continue to hide and refuse to face the bitter sorrow that must be braved in order to bear goodness.