100% Happy?

Jump by Henri Snijders at free images.com

The hunger for happiness is a driving force for most Americans. We assess our happiness to determine our future choices and decisions.  We often feel guilty and depressed because we are not happy, like we think all of our friends are.  So . . . :

People get divorced because they are not happy in their marriage.

People leave their job because they are not happy.

A family leaves the church because they are not happy there anymore.

Parents spend their lives trying to make their kids happy and provide enjoyable experiences for them.

Do we lose touch with reality when it comes to our pursuit of happiness?

Maybe the problem is we have bought into the idea that we are supposed to be 100% happy!  Consider most anything that makes you happy, isn’t there parts of it you don’t like?

I am happy with my job of preaching, but there is at least 15% of my work that I don’t like, that I sometimes wish I could change.

I am happy that we are involved in our family farm raising livestock, but there are many moments I am not happy with the farm.  Maybe even 20% of the time.

I am happy with my marriage. We are “happily married,” but there are days when we are unhappy.  There are times when I hurt her feelings or we just don’t “jee-haw” as we say.

My kids have many happy times, but they cry often and are regularly not happy with our decisions.  Haven’t you seen plenty of kids crying in McDonald’s or an amusement park?

The bottom line is that it is unrealistic to expect life to be happy all the time!  In fact,  the big features of our lives may involves difficult months and years.  Many marriages have endured sad and hard years only to come through them with commitment to enjoy happy years later in life.

So go ahead and do yourself a favor and release yourself from the expectation that life is about you being 100% happy.  It is not!  It is not even about you being 50% happy.  Happiness is good, but it is not a right or the purpose of life!  We are not that shallow are we?

Life is deeper!  Life is about glorifying God and fulfilling his will in our lives.  Life is about love, commitment, sacrifice, and service.  Our Lord and his Apostles had many times when they were not 100% happy.  They suffered and were rejected.  But they lived with joy and purpose.  Join me in trying to do likewise!