Things Above Thought
TAT # 85 Happiness!
Much is being said, written about, preached on, televised, announced, blogged, and tweeted about how God wants Christians to be happy. It’s almost as if Christ came, suffered, and died to make us happy. But I wonder what made Paul so happy that he was –
imprisoned, beaten so many times the number is not recorded, in danger of death, given 195 lashes, beaten with rods three times, stoned, three times, shipwrecked and adrift for 24 hours, frequently in dangers from natural disasters, robbers, Jews and Gentiles, and dangers in the city, the wilderness, on the sea, and even those clamming to be brethren but were not. He even labored with hardship through many sleepless nights, went hungry and thirsty, was often cold and exposed and on top of all that he lived with the daily pressure of concern for all the churches. (2 Cor. 11:23–28) ☺
And what made Christ soooo happy that He –
started His ministry not with an ordination ceremony and then a celebration and a parade but by spending 40 days alone in the desert without food and then tempted by the devil? After that He suffered rejection by His countrymen, His handpicked disciples, and the religious leaders of the religious system handed down by His Father. And if that were not enough He endured the shame and suffering of a trial by those same religious leaders and then the government also turned its back on Him and handed Him over to the worst death any human has ever faced. ☺
So what made them happy? How about –
. . . Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2 emphasis added)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4 emphasis added)
Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. (Heb. 11:1 GWN emphasis added)
When God’s heavenly, eternal goals don’t make us happy we might need to spend a little more time with Paul and Christ. ☺