There are times when I get to thinking that I’m doing okay with myself. I hear all the chatter around me about self-worth and self-actualization. I hear all the jabber about finding happiness and not having troubles to deal with. I see people with smiles on their faces, money in their wallets, and loved ones on their phones. I get caught up in the storm of happiness and start to think to myself, ‘maybe I’m getting it right this time.’
Sadly enough, we lose track of reality. We get so entangled with all the goodness around us that we don’t have the urgency to stop and realize just how useless we are. To be honest, I hate happiness, simply because it gives us a chance to forget just how much we need God. Do you realize how you probably only pray when you (or somebody you know) is in need? Do you even stop to realize just how imperfect you are and just how great God is in keeping you alive right now?
I had an interesting talk with a friend the other day. He told me that he believed that God wants us to be happy and comfortable. Not that God wants us to be pained or to struggle, but that true faith means a person isn’t struggling with relational problems or financial problems or physical problems or happiness problems. I was talking with another friend tonight who said that she used to think along the same lines. How can this be?
First, look at Job. Scripture tells that Job was “upright and blameless, a man who feared the Lord and turned away from evil,” and yet he had everything taken away from him. All his livestock, property, servants, children – even his very health. And even in his deepest misery and pain, and with the pressures of his wife and “friends” telling him to just curse God so it would all end, he “fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’” He was so miserable that he cursed the day he was born.
Now you tell me – how does Job’s story fit with those who tell you that God wants us all to be happy? Yeah, God did want us to be happy. He gave us the entire world and everything. He was here to walk with us and talk to us and love us. That’s Genesis 1 and 2. But then something happened in Genesis 3. We sinned. We told God that death and misery was better than all the things He had given us. We tested His word and learned, the hard way, that it wasn’t worth it.
Oddly enough, God still sees fit to bless us daily with happiness. We just don’t care to thank Him for it, most of the time. Think of all the things you have. You probably have clothes. You probably have access to food. You have access to a computer and internet. You have access to clean water and a hospital. You have people in your life who love you. You have a roof over your head and walls to protect you. You have so much…and yet, we still feel the need to want more.
Imagine, for a second, that you’re one of the homeless in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Africa, or anywhere else in the world. Imagine that your mom died giving you birth and you never knew your dad. You’re just out on the street with a group of people that you’ve known your whole life and you all just scavenge together. Most of the people you know are addicts and dying. And all you have is a pair of pants that are far too big for you and God. You learn about Him by hearing someone preach about him once a month around your area, and you grow with Him by praying. You don’t have a Bible. You don’t have clean water. You don’t have a reliable source of food. Nothing. And yet, how could such a person still be satisfied?
Our problem, as North Americans, is that we have it TOO good. I don’t care how much pain you’re in from your own earthly loss. First, I’d have to ask if it was ever as bad as what Job lost. Secondly, I’d have to ask how much it really affects you being satisfied in God.
Now I do need to let you know, that I am not the prime example of someone that professes satisfaction in God with my whole life. I’m a whiner. Since October, my leg has been aching, and it’s only getting worse with time. But the point isn’t to not whine – the point is to be happy with what you have. God is more than good to you. Do you give him that credit?
I challenge you to ask yourself how you would feel should you be put into Job’s shoes. Imagine yourself without a house with all your family dead at once and no money or belongings or clothes or anything. Would you still be satisfied in God? Fortunately, you’ll likely never have to go through that.
But for those times when it seems like you should be happy, or that you deserve an easy life, or that it’s okay to expect God to deliver things to you, just remember what you deserve. And remember to have the same heart as Job – that God is worth your worship, no matter how little you have on this earth. Because even the air you breathe is more than you deserve.
I know I need You I need to love You I love to see You, but it's been so long I long to feel You I feel this need for You And I need to hear You, is that so wrong?
Now You pull me near You When we're close, I fear You Still I'm afraid to tell You all that I've done Are You done forgiving? Oh, can You look past my pretending? Lord, I'm so tired of defending what I've become What have I become?
I hear You say, "My love is over. It's underneath. It's inside. It's in between. The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel. The times that you question, 'Is this for real? ' The times you're broken. The times that you mend. The times you hate Me, and the times that you bend. Well, My love is over, it's underneath. It's inside, it's in between. These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks. The times that you feel like you're falling from grace. The times you're hurting. The times that you heal. The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal. In times of confusion, in chaos and pain. I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame. I'm there through your heartache. I'm there in the storm. My love I will keep you, by My power alone. I don't care where you’ve fallen, or where you have been. I'll never forsake you, My love never ends. It never ends."
