Free To Be Happy

God wants you to be happy. I really think you needed to hear that.

I don’t know why—but we (Christians) and the world at large (influenced by what we think of ourselves), tend to think that happiness is an afterthought in Christianity. We feel, and prove by how we live—that happiness not the main purpose of our lives, but something that we will arrive at at one day (most likely in heaven). Happiness, for Christians, seems to be a deferred state of being.

I’m here to tell you that this is not God’s design for you. Some of my favorite moments in the account of creation are those when God paused to take note that the thing(s), He created were good.

Why take note of that? It seems as if, He was trying to say to us: “Hey, when I made the world—it was all good. Everything was perfect. Goodness is my perfect will and design.”

Goodness is a of the fruit of The Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). What this means is that every good thing, is God’s and has its start with Him (James 1:17). Happiness belongs to God, because it is good. Yes, it is a good thing to be happy.

God wants his children to be happy, no less than you would want your kids to be. As a matter of fact, the simple answer to the question: “What does God want from me?” is for you to be happy. God created you to be happy.

I feel like it’s hard for us to receive that. Say it out loud: God created me to be happy.

This has been God’s want for mankind (and all creation) from the start. His desire is for us to live in the fullness of His Goodness, having no lack of any good thing (Psalm 34:10).

Do you want to know why God created you to be happy? Because He Himself is happy. God is the embodiment of happiness and gladness. He is exuberantly joyful. Paul writes in Romans 14:17 that The Kingdom of God, or in other words, the atmosphere of God’s rule is “righteousness, peace, and joy in The Holy Spirit”. God’s rule is characterized as such, because God Himself is The Righteousness, The Peace, and The Joy. Well, what does this mean for me? Well I, having been created in the very image of God, am modeled after Joy Himself. I have the right to be happy. God designed me for it, spiritually, physically, and mentally.

I love how Paul writes that these traits of God’s Kingdom (righteousness, peace, and joy) are all in The Holy Spirit.

Paul had to add this disclaimer, because there also exist righteousness, peace, and joy that are counterfeit. God doesn’t want any of these for you; He wants you to have the real thing, which is only found in Him. He wants you to have His own righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), His own peace (John 14:27), His own joy/happiness (Galatians 5:22 — joy is the fruit of The Holy Spirit).

Do you know what God’s happiness is in? God’s happiness in Himself. The source of God’s joy is God! Therefore, God desiring that you experience the same happiness, offers Himself to you, as your Greatest Reward (Genesis 15:1), so that you may be happy (Psalm 126:2, Psalm 103:1-5).

Your happiness, to God, is not an afterthought….it’s not an add-on. No, to Him, your happiness, is a basic, fundamental purpose, for which God created you. He created you to be made exceedingly glad, by His Love.

Isaiah 55 paints a clear picture of God’s purpose for humanity. At first, God makes an open call for salvation, for any who wants it:

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.”

Isaiah 55:1-3, ESV.

Then in verses 10 & 11, God speaks about the power of His words to always accomplish what He purposes them for:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11, ESV.

The right after, He paints a beautiful picture of what the culmination of this purpose looks like:

“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:12, ESV.

The culmination of God’s purpose for us looks like joy and peace.

Praise God!

My friend, God is inviting you to freely come and experience His Goodness, in order to “taste” and see…to prove for yourself how good He is (Psalm 34:8) and experience how pleasurable life is in His presence (Psalm 16:11). He adds taste, delight, bliss, and meaning to everything. A beautiful day is made brighter…a breathtaking view, even more vibrant. Everything exudes breathtaking eternal glory, in the light of His Face.

I hope this truth has liberated you. You are free to be happy. Take it easy and Enjoy Him.