Burned Out Happiness

I’ve looked. I swear I have. And you know what? I can’t find anywhere in the Bible that describes true happiness in terms of belly laughs. To be fair, the Bible also doesn’t preclude hearty enjoyment. In fact, it may just be a function of the freedom a person already possesses. Happy people tend to laugh more, but visible manifestations are hardly the metric Holy Scripture uses to describe the highest order of living.It seems we live in a world where true happiness is being replaced by something I can only describe as darkness. In my forty-eight years on earth, I’ve noticed an insidious fog sweeping over humanity. The problem with fog is that it shuts out the light. In the case of the true Light, Jesus Christ, this means that the source of true happiness is cloaked. Remember, God is the ultimate source of all things good. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17).If it’s not from God, then it’s not good, even if every sense in your human body tells you otherwise.

The above statement is massive. Its weightiness cannot be overestimated. We all need to remember this, all day, every day. Why? Because we live in a world where multibillion dollar industries exist for a single reason, to counterfeit the fruit of true peace in the soul. Notice I used the word peace and not happiness. The word “peace” shows up in the New American Standard Bible over three hundred and fifty times, the word “happiness” less than five and “happy” less than twenty. What does that say to you???Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.The apostle Peter, like every other writer in the Bible, understood that peace is the transcendent quality God seeks to impart to believers. Happiness is more of an expression, but it cannot truly exist in the absence of godly peace. This is what the Bible reveals to us over and over. Yet, this world is full of so-called “happy” people, people who have made the most of their time here on earth, people who have supposedly found the key to good living. They’ll be the first to tell you that they are exceptionally happy. And maybe from human viewpoint, on a scale of values that is limited to fleshly things, there’s a kind of truth to their words. However, as Solomon wrote extensively of in the Book of Ecclesiastes, such “happiness” is fleeting, vapid.I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.

I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men — many concubines. 

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. 

Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.King Solomon wasn’t a pontificator who merely speculated about things he dreamed of experiencing. The amazing things he set out to accomplish in his life were actually real when he wrote about them. How many people in this world have ever lived like Solomon? How many have his wisdom? Yet, so many people claim they know the secret to happy living. They are liars, agents of Satan, himself. I can say that because the Bible tells me it is true. “'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'” (Isaiah 57:21). This world is filled with liars.No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.Happiness is much easier to counterfeit than peace. There are many counterfeits that stimulate some form of happiness, but they cannot stimulate peace in the soul. For some, it’s food, others drugs or alcohol, and for others wealth or travel. Choose your poison.

Satan knows this, so he redefines the goal of living in terms of happiness instead of inner peace. If he can get you to accept this fundamental misdirection, he can get you to shift your eyes to myriad counterfeits. The saddest part about his version of happiness, as Solomon alluded to, is that it is an empty shell.

He who has a crooked mind finds no good, and he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.Happiness without true peace is as fragile as glass. It can be shattered in a moment, devastating its possessor. Have you ever wondered why ungodliness produces instability? Well, now you know - people who have bought Satan’s lie are like yo-yos - one minute they’re on top of the world, enjoying their so-called “happiness”, and the next they are crumbling into a heap of distress and emotional despair. Sadly, most of them, at the encouragement of the world, will saddle up for another round of “seeking happiness”. This cycle will continue indefinitely. I call this “dysfunction junction”. It’s a horrible, debilitating, diseased existence. The only cure is Jesus Christ, the Word of God.A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.The Bible doesn't speak of happiness in terms of belly laughs, rather a “joyful heart” given as a gift from the “God of peace”. If you’re seeking happiness as a function of your human senses, then you’ll surely burn out. Unlike our spiritual senses, human senses have a weakness for scintillating things. Once the flesh grabs hold of a counterfeit, it runs hard and fast with it until it is worn out and unable to produce any more “happiness”.You see, Satan’s counterfeit is like a wicked drug. It must be consumed in increasing doses for it to continue to manufacture any kind of happiness. The end game is always the same. Painful detox. The long-term effects of overstimulating the human senses while chasing “happiness” is just plain awful…the world becomes dull and boring. Look around, my friends, and you’ll see a bunch of tired, unfulfilled, unhappy overachievers pretending to have conquered the world. God knows their folly and has offered them His peace. Sadly, most will go to their grave destitute, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).Inner peace is God’s holy prize for those who seek the Truth. True happiness is a reality that may or may not be evidenced on its possessor’s face. However, God has placed it there, as a function of peace, stimulated from deep inside them, and it is worth rejoicing over because it is from Him.Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 

The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Love in Christ,

Ed Collins