The Conflict
Between What is Good and What Makes Us Happy
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
(I John 2:17 NIV)
There is no difference between the services. We have two of them simply because there is not enough room in our sanctuary for everyone to get into one service. I heard the same songs and the same sermon twice in three hours.
And yes, it was that good. (If you want to know what church I go to, email me and I will be more than happy to tell you!)
Our pastor’s topic was not new to me. I have known my whole life the truth that he spoke. But sometimes it is good to be reminded of truth.
He spoke to us about the Will of God.
In a nutshell, he said this, “All of us who want a relationship with our Creator and Savior, want to know what His will is for our personal lives. We struggle, sometimes daily with “what does God want me to do about this situation (our job, our relationships, our finances, etc.)?”
My pastor’s answer to that question was this; God’s will for our life is three part; providential, moral and personal. The personal will of God for our lives can always be found in the context of the providential and moral will of God.
One of the thoughts I had while listening to this was “I know God’s will for me is to be good, but I don’t always like to do that because it doesn’t make me personally happy.”
There have been many times in my life when I wanted to choose what is easy and what makes me feel happy as opposed to what is right and good (and sometimes difficult to do). And there have been a few times, in my weakness that I have chosen to do that.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe God wants His people to be happy, but first and foremost, He wants us to be good.
As a young parent I struggled with this whole happy vs. good concept for my children. I wanted them to be happy. What parent doesn’t want that for their child? But I soon learned that having a good child was far more important than having a happy one. “Good” resulted in happiness for both of us but “happiness” didn’t always have good results and was usually short lived.
We live in a world today that says we should pursue happiness rather than goodness. The Declaration of Independence even says we have the right to the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, in America today the pursuit usually sounds like this: “If you will give to me, I will be happy.” That is what my children usually said to me. The America I love has almost been destroyed by the mindset that “not only do I want it, I am entitled to it.” But that is a subject I will let the politicians debate.
Early in my career, I was told, “don’t pursue success”. It sounded strange to me but then that successful person told me to pursue excellence first and success would follow. I have found that same concept to be true in my pursuit for happiness. It doesn’t always result in happiness. But if I pursue goodness in my life, pure happiness and joy will follow.
The will of God for my personal life has not always been easy to follow and it is sometimes confusing to me. But I know someday He will help me to understand it. All he expects from me now is that I search and find what His providential and moral will for my life is, then apply it to the decisions I make for my life .
My eighteen year old granddaughter was in the second service with me. Right now she is struggling with what to do with her life beyond high school graduation. I am confident she will find God’s personal will for her life if she is familiar with the providential and moral will of God. I honestly believe that God will make it clear to her if she uses the wisdom God gave her and stays within His moral code.
I would encourage you too to seek God’s will for your life; nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. It is good and the results are eternal happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment