Happiness, what's it based on?

Romans 12:12

Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When
trials come endure them patiently; steadfastly maintain the
habit of prayer.

Phillips Translation


Oh, now I see why I am sad all the time. I am not basing my happiness on my hope in Christ, but rather, if my football team wins. So that is the secret? Have you ever "based your happiness on anything other then our hope in God?" Of course, we all have. We see the end of the money before the end of the month. We see this world and the terrible things that are going on around us. We see violence, crime, drugs, hatred, murder, disrespect of humans, the worth of human life at a all time low................not what we are told to base our happiness on, but what we see with our human eyes. Our happiness is supposed to be based upon our hope in Christ.

I am going to go out on the limb a little here, and say that the word "happiness" may have been translated from the Greek from a word that could have meant "Emotions". All Emotions. If all you dwell upon is what you see in front of you, the checking account balance, the price of everything going up, the talk about raising every tax we pay, the talk of adding more taxes, the talk of other countries that hate the USA having Nuclear weapons.............then guess were your emotions will be? Yep, in the gutter, down, worried, almost killing yourself with doubt that anything good will ever happen. But look above at the scripture up top: What does it tell us to base our happiness (emotions?) on? OUR HOPE in CHRIST. Oh, not in what we see, but what we SEE.



Hope : to cherish a desire with anticipation, to trust, to desire with expectation of obtainment, to expect with confidence.



See, Hope is not looking at our present situation, it is trusting it will change. Remember that good, but true definition of hope: "The substance of things NOT SEEN, the evidence of things to come" something like that. You see if you can see it, then you don't need hope or trust, do you?



I remember when I was very young, actually I don't remember, but I have been told. My Dad was in the Marines and didn't make much money. We were always struggling with finances, but many times, I am told, grocery bags full of food would appear on our front porch. People, sent by God, maybe angels, would obey God and give us groceries, because we needed them. This did a couple of things: It made trust and hope grow in us, and it made us be more aware of others for the rest of our lives. My Mom was one of the most giving people I ever knew, and mainly because she never forgot what God did for us.



What would happen if we prayed for some need we had, and God told us exactly how He was going to answer? "OK, here is what is going to happen< your going to go to the bus stop down on 8th street, and a older woman will start a conversation with you. She will give you a check for exactly your rent this month." "OK, that sound good?" So you go to the bus stop and everything happens just as God said it would. Not the way it works, God is the master of "Happenstance", well to us it seems like "happenstance" but to Him, it is all in His plan. Ever see the movie: "Wall-e"? There is a part that I love. Wall-e finally gets off the destroyed Earth and finds where all the humans have been. They are on a space ship, all fat and have every detail of their lives taken care of, by machines. They float around on lounge chair type things getting fatter and fatter, watching TV, eating, eating did I mention eating? Is this our perception of God? Taking care of our every need, every want? In the movie, these people did not even acknowledge each other, to busy watching their little TV's and getting the wants taken care of. I am going to make a bold statement here, so proceed with caution. "If we did not have problems, then how would we know what trust and hope were"? If everything was taken care of for our whole lives, like clock work, there would be no reason to have Hope or trust in God. Suddenly a line from a old song comes to my mind, I don't remember much of the rest of the song, but one line and I know I don't have it completely right: "If we never had a problem, we would never know God could solve them". The second statement in the above scripture holds a wonderful truth. ..."When trials come endure them patiently: steadfastly maintain the HABIT OF PRAYER" There is was, did you see it? THAT word again, :Patiently. That word we all hate, but must have, in order to continue with God. "I don't want to be patient, God, I want answers NOW>!!" What is that old saying my Mom had on a plaque? "Lord give me patience, and give it to me NOW"? How do you "endure them patiently"? Trials are hard things, they are not easy, so how do you endure patiently? Let's think about Paul for a minute. He was in jail, and while there suffering, he wrote much of his writings from the bible. His time in jail, I know, wasn't a picnic. There were torture, terrible conditions, awful food, if any food at all. But, how was his attitude? Read any of his letters to different churches, where are the moaning, where is the complaining, where is the "get me out of here's"? He even made the statement: "In whatever place I find myself, I am content" Was Paul a master of patience? God had answered his prayers over and over and over, so what did he have to worry about? Trust hope and assurance that HE would answer again, were second nature for Paul.




Why do we sing praise songs? Because you cannot sing songs that glorify the Lord and think about all your problems. Singing songs that glorify our Father, makes us put our thoughts, emotions, hope trust in the one true living GOD. Next time you start thinking about yourself, and all your problems, start singing praises to the Lord, put praise music on, concentrate on what is being said in these songs. It will be hard to think about all your problems while your praising God, and thinking His son Jesus for His work on the cross.