Happy? Happy. Happy!

I recently listened to a pastor talk about happiness and he said something that was contrary to what I had been led to believe for most of my saved life. He said that he too had been taught that ‘happiness is just what’s happening now’ and that we should ‘seek joy’ instead. Once the thing that makes us happy is gone then it’s gone.  He bought that teaching like many.  This was until he started diving in to what the word actually means.

His research revealed that the word ‘blessed’ actually means ‘hugely happy’ and that the word ‘blessed’ occurs 48 times in the NT. People who are hugely happy typically are blessed while those who are blessed are hugely happy right? It would seem apparent that they walk hand in hand.

So the question is: what makes you happy? What makes you ‘hugely’ happy? How are you blessed? If you look around my guess is that you can always find something to be happy about; regardless of your situation. If you don’t believe me; drive down to your local inner city and count how many homeless people there are and then look inside the car you drove to get there. If you have old McDonald’s bags tossed in the back; be happy that you had enough money to even get the food in the first place!

If you are single are there things to be happy about? Married; what about your spouse brings happiness to your life? If you sit in traffic what can you see and do on your way to where ever you are going besides complain?

I have to be honest and catch myself today because I could easily fall into the trap of unhappiness. I can look at all the things I don’t have like the husband that I don’t have; the children I haven’t given life to; the father I have yet to find and meet- and I could go on and on. I’m sure you could too. Instead; my choice today is to be happy that I am alive, that I am healthy, that I have hair and that every time I walk into my living room I am surrounded by my favorite Joe Malone candle that I can actually smell. How about you?