God offers his people unique ways to happiness. We can be happy in ways that the world knows nothing about. The world’s happiness is derived from pleasure. They might be happy with an event, a person, an accomplishment, or some form of entertainment. We can be happy with these things, too. Yet, this happiness is only temporary and temporal. It goes up and down like a roller coaster.
We, on the other hand, can have permanent and eternal happiness. That’s because God offers us unique ways to happiness.
Our unique ways to happiness are:
God’s correction – Job 5:17-18. Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Chastening maketh sore and woundeth. Yet, God himself bindeth up, his hands make whole. Thus, we are not to despise the chastening of the Lord or be weary of his correction, Prov 3:11-12. God loves us.
While his chastening is grievous, his correction is splendid. When God has corrected us, we are happy. And this happiness does not wear off. But you have to let God correct you before you can experience this happiness. Many Christians would rather resist the Lord’s chastening. Therefore, they have no idea the happiness they are missing.
God’s Fear – Prov 28:14. Happy is the man that feareth alway. Ps 128:1-2, Blessed is everyone the feareth the Lord… happy shalt thou be.
Fearing God is not the same thing as fearing his wrath or sin’s consequences. God’s fear is an absolute fear of Him. When you fear God, you tremble, Phil 2:12-13. But you are also happy. When you fear him, you know, without doubt, that you are absolutely in the right relationship with God. Until you have been here with God, you can’t even imagine this is one of the unique ways to happiness.
Serving God’s people – Jn 13:13-17. Happy are ye if ye do them. God’s people are happiest when we are serving each other. Men and women lose their joy when they lose their ability to serve.
We don’t work for the Lord to be recognized or lifted up. We’re not looking for ways to rule and gain the upper hand. We shouldn’t be trying to draw attention to ourselves. When we do this, we are going to become unhappy. However, when we serve and look for ways to serve we learn one of the unique ways to happiness. For more on serving, see Happy Are Ye If Ye Do Them.
Suffering for Christ – 1 Pet 3:14. “If ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye”. 1 Pet 4:14, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye”.
This doesn’t sound like a way to happiness. However, if you are willing to take the ridicule and stand for Christ, you’ll find more happiness than if you cave in to peer pressure and try to get along with the crowd.
The happiest day in Stephen’s life was undoubtedly the day his face was as “the face of an angel”, Acts 6:15, and he “saw the glory of God”, Acts 7:55. That also happened to be the day he was stoned to death. Until you suffer for Christ, you will never experience this happiness.
Conclusion: If you want to be happy as a Christian, then pursue God’s unique ways to happiness, and leave off trying the world’s way to be happy.