God Wants Me To Be Happy...Doesn't He?

God wants you to be happy…doesn’t he?

It seems like a silly question – even one with an obvious answer – but indeed, does God really want for us to be happy? In the next three weeks, we are going to be launching into a new teaching series entitled, Urban Legends – Debunking Spiritual Myths. The purpose of this series is to take commonly retorted phrases we hear in church or popular Christian writings and put them to the test of Scripture. One of the most prevalent of these notions is believing that God wants for us what will make us happy.

In light of this, I propose this new set of Beatitudes to reflect the state of culture in our society today:

Blessed are the rich in stuff, for theirs is whatever makes them happy.
Blessed are those who keep a stiff upper lip, for nothing will rattle their will.
Blessed are the brash, for they will be heard and get their way
Blessed are those hunger and thirst for the things they can’t have, for soon their stomachs will paunch with forbidden pleasures.
Blessed are those who are vengeful, for their enemies will always cower in their presence.
Blessed are the looseness of character, for they will win the ears of many, though the loyalty of few.
Blessed are the antagonists, for they will create enough trouble to distract others from their own failings.
Blessed are those who stand for nothing, for they will be able to change their spots in a moment and avoid all persecution.
Blessed are you when are the first to indict, accuse, and slander, for yours is the offensive while others retreat.
So, rejoice and be glad, because, for number one to be happy, you have to look out for number one!

Okay, okay, I know…it’s a bit cynical, but the truth remains that our nature is to gravitate towards any behavior that brings us happiness – no matter the consequences – and to substitute God’s will for our own insatiable lust. Indeed, happiness is an admirable achievement and one that most of us would resonate with if given a choice…but is that truly what God wants for us?

The problem with happiness, in general, is its subjective and fleeting nature. Time and time again in the Old Testament, God would give His people something that they thought would make them happy…only a short time later, the grumbling would set in again. In our present culture, there are many people pretending to espouse truth, and even more with itching ears to receive it. Our challenge, throughout this series, is to declare what is truth and then take it to our culture with an affirmative voice.

Does God want us to be happy? I can guarantee that is a piece of what He wants for our lives. But even more so, I believe God wants us to be blessed – and even Paul was quick to understand the blessing in the thorn.

As you worship this week:

Meditate – on a time in your life that you were truly happy, and determine what circumstances precipitated that happiness.
Contemplate – on if/how your attitude shifts when life is not exactly as you hoped it would be.
Seek – the constancy of the Lord and his faithfulness.
Find – contentment in knowing that your happiness in God is not circumstantial, but based on an everlasting promise.

Resounding Themes:

Wonderful God
The Joy of the Lord
Un-circumstantial FaithWonderful God

Getting READY to Worship

Ready, Set, READ

2 Timothy 4

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- What does Paul charge to Timothy in the end of this letter? Why is Timothy’s constant readiness so important? Why is important for us to always be ready as well.

- What time does Paul say is coming? How will men act during this period? Why will they do so? Do you think that people will be swayed by the “myth teachings?” What doctrinal myths are retorted today as Scripture? How did they get that status? How do they continue?

- How can we combat the “urban legends” about spirituality in our own lives? How does Paul tell Timothy to do so? In the end, why do we need to stand up against such myth-telling in our own church, family, etc.?

- Is personal happiness an “urban legend” for the Christian? Why or why not? Is happiness a goal worth achieving for the spiritually minded? Why or Why not? Is there a danger to too much happiness? How so? Can someone possibly be blessed and not happy? Explain? Which is the most honorable/substantive?

Ready, Set, PRAY

O Sovereign of the ages, we worship You…there is none beside You, O Lord! As we pour over the witness of Scripture, we are humbled and amazed at how Your greatness has overshadowed any other moment of history. In famine, You were there. In triumph, You were there. In disaster, You were there. In celebration, You were there. In happiness, sadness, loss, sacrifice, jubilation and grief, you were, are, and will be there. In fact, if we know one thing about You at all, righteous Jehovah, it’s that You transcend circumstance. O God, How wonderful You are!

Father, as we ask, would You show us truth – truth that will outlast the fads this world has to offer. Lord, don’t merely grant us a system to measure all things by, but allow us the discernment to see clearly You will for our lives – from situation to situation and crossroad to crossroad.

And as we humbly search for the equilibrium of happiness for ourselves, assist us, as we measure our life against the Beatitudinal person our Lord Jesus so plainly outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. So, Father, will You bless us – truly bless, in every sense of the word. And thereby, would we find happiness in knowing that You’ll fulfill in our lives what You’ve promised to us all…that Your glory might be revealed.

We ask it in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!