Happy

Blessed [Happy] are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

My husband and I enjoy watching the show Shark Tank where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to the “sharks”, men and women who have the capital to take their business to the next level. If Happiness were a product that someone was selling, I believe this entrepreneur wouldn’t need the help of the Sharks because their sales would go through the roof. In fact, I believe the Sharks would be calling them up to get a piece of the action!

The promise of happiness is used in sales pitches for anything being sold today, whether it’s a new car, house, job, exercise equipment, food, clothes, and the list goes on. You’ve seen the commercials with happy people dancing in their cars, dancing down the street, or fitting into their skinny jeans. Just sit and watch HSN (Home Shopping Network) for 5 minutes. All their sales pitches revolve around their product making you happy, after all what else could you want out of life then that set of measuring spoons, that is until the next item for sale comes up. Money too has been associated with happiness. 

 Lottery tickets sell in the millions every year because people want to win, so they can be happy. People say things like, if only I were rich, all my problems would go away, resulting in happiness.

But then there are those who are rich and all they have is misery because they have so much debt from over spending to the point of bankruptcy. Movies are another source that uses the theme of happy to lure sales. 

People like watching movies with happy endings or the word “Happy” in the title in hopes of feeling…well happy. There’s Happy Feet, Pursuit of Happiness, The Happy Elf, Madea’s Big Happy Family, and so on. But in 2011, a documentary called Happy came out. Looking at a world full of depression and overworked and overstressed individuals, the number one answer given to the question, “What do you want out of life”, was to be happy. This documentary was based on a new cutting edge science called positive psychology. 

In the end the documentary after following several stories of people around the world that exemplified happy lives, the documentary concluded that exercise, relationships, and positive thinking were at the core of what made people happy. 

The world seems to lack happiness and people search for it in many different ways; some even believe that only being with someone else can make them happy. Men and women around the world, in all cultures, believe that they can only be truly happy in a relationship. This is evident by today’s multiple internet dating sites. Many relationships are based and started on the premise that this sole individual can make them happy for the rest of their lives. But when that doesn’t work, they go on to believe that having a child can make them happy. So, if all these things above don’t bring happiness, what does? 

All the promises of happiness from the world are just smoke and mirrors compared to the true source of happiness mentioned in Matthew. But before we can attain that state of being, we need to be depleted of this world.

The truth of the matter is that happiness does not come by way of things or people. They can add to our happiness, but they are not the source of it. Jesus said that the poor in spirit are happy [blessed] because they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. The assurance of God’s kingdom at the end of life is where true happiness lies. But in order to attain it, one has to be poor in spirit; to lose all in order to gain Christ. 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26 (also Mark 8:36)

I love the parable of the hidden treasure in Matthew 13:44. 

Again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  

In the book of Isaiah 55:2, it says, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David.”

Everything we hold dear God wants, including us. Matthew chapter 6 talks about storing your treasures in heaven (v.20). If our eyes are only set on what we can accumulate in this world then our treasure is not in heaven, it is on things that will burn, rust, mold, or be stolen. When we are poor of spirit, we are free of worry. There is no anxiety about losing our blessing. A person poor of spirit, has come to the end of themselves and has exhausted all manner of seeking happiness in the things of this world; they realize that they need something beyond what this world has to offer. It is only then that they truly have need for God. God seems to be that last thing people look for when seeking happiness but their search always ends with Him waiting.

When you have the promise of eternal life after living on this earth 70+ years, there is no greater happiness then to know that you will be in heaven for eternity. 

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the unglodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. 

Psalm 1:1-3