Tag Archives: being happy

November 20, 2023 · 5:52 AM

Finding Happiness

I saw an article in Psychology Today called “10 Simple Ways To Finding Happiness”. In it they told people to be around people you likes, find your true purpose and to do things you love. I’m sure it’s a lot of great advice, but it was all very self centered information. I then decided to Google “happiness definition”. It came up with lots of opinions, but the different dictionaries all had something very similar. They basically said that happiness is finding contentment with your current situation. It’s hard to find contentment when you’re current situation keeps going from bad to worse or if you’re constantly trying to find the silver lining. Our circumstances aren’t really a great place to look for contentment and happiness because they’re always changing.

Think of Joseph who had the coat of many colors. While he was at home as dad’s favorite, he found happiness despite what his brothers thought. Then they tried to kills him, but decided to throw him in a pit and rob him of his coat. From there, they sold him into slavery where he was taken to a foreign country. He worked hard for a wealthy man and life was good for a slave until he was accused of rape. Looking for contentment in those circumstances must have been difficult as he was thrown in prison where he sat for years. Somewhere in there he found his happiness in God and waited for God to intervene. In one day he went from prisoner to being second in command of Egypt. When his brothers arrived, he wasn’t mad or bitter because finally he understood God’s plan.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire” (GNT). Where have you been seeking your happiness? If it’s in circumstances, you probably feel like you’ve been on a roller coaster of emotions. Instead we need to find contentment and happiness in God and in how He’s using our circumstances to shape us and place us. The character of God is love. That’s why He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God has a plan and your current situation is part of it. He uses difficult times to shape us and to grow our faith. In the moment it can feel like you’re forgotten as Joseph, but God has never lost sight of you, nor has He forgotten you. Find your happiness and contentment in Him rather than your circumstances.

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash

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August 25, 2017 · 5:32 AM

Finding Inner Peace


Have you ever noticed that there are some people who are never happy, no matter what? For whatever reason, something inside of them is keeping them from finding peace and happiness. To me, that’s gotta be a rough way to live. While I was on a mission trip, I saw a kid with a stick and a make shift wheel made out of trash. He was pushing that stick everywhere while he was running. He was grinning ear to ear having a good time. I thought, “I want to be like him. Happy and content with whatever I have, wherever I am.”

I think finding contentment is a big key to life. Whatever situation you’re in, whatever cards you’ve been dealt in life, find your way to contentment. If you’re not happy now, you’re not going to be happy when you’re out of it. They say money can’t buy happiness (contentment) because your inner peace is not dependent on outer things. Through Christ, accept where you are and what you’re going through right now, look for the lesson to learn, and find contentment (inner peace). That’s the secret to a happy life. 

Here are some verses in the Bible on being content. 

1. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.
Philippians 4:12-13 GNT

2. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 ESV

3. You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
Matthew 5:5 MSG

4. Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.
1 Timothy 6:6 NLT

5. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 GNT

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May 16, 2017 · 5:25 AM

Breaking The Perpetual, Downward Spiral


Not long ago, I was sitting at home stressing over everything on my plate. I was trying to figure out how and when I could get everything accomplished. Then the muscles around my eye started to spasm and I remembered that an eye doctor once told me once that that was usually due to stress. When I remembered it was due to stress, I began to think again about all I had to do. My eye began to spasm worse. I remembered I was stressed and started the process again.

I was in a perpetual, downward spiral. Ever been there? They’re hard to get out of. My wife came home and immediately noticed something was wrong. She asked and I began to frantically tell her all that was on my plate. I explained that my eye was driving me nuts too. She stopped me and said, “Why don’t you go outside and get your mind right? Go out there and stop thinking about all this and think about things that make you happy.”

After being out there a few minutes, the spiral started again. I had to push back and enjoy my surroundings. I began to thank God for each of the blessing in my life. I thought of all the things I have that bring me joy and happiness and thanked Him for them. After a while, I had t noticed, but my eye stopped twitching. I began to feel better about things. It reminded me of Proverbs 17:22 that says, “A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing” (AMP).

If you Google “happiness and joy as a medicine”, you will find study and after study that shows the correlation between a positive mood and humor with better health. If you’re like me and end up in these perpetual, downward spirals from time to time, find a way to get your mind on something that brings you joy. It doesn’t take away the problem, but it clears it up, brings healthy thoughts and helps you break the cycle. With a healthy, joyful mind you can solve any problem. 

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April 19, 2016 · 5:30 AM

God’s Secret To Happiness

  Since I was a kid, I heard people tell me, “You become like those you run with.” It was great advice then and now for choosing who you hang out with and listen to. We’ve all received bad advice from someone in our life that has put us in a situation we didn’t want to be in. Some of us have a momentary awkwardness and others have a lifetime of regret because of the consequences of that choice. Either way, we got into the mess by taking advice from someone we shouldn’t have been hanging around.

Psalm 1 is one of my life chapters. What I mean by that is that I see it as a promise from God so I’ve tried to build my life on it. The chapter starts out by telling us, “Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God” (GNT). If you want to be happy, stop taking advice from people who don’t know the principles found in God’s Word. Find better people to hang out with if you want your life to change.

If you’ve followed this site for a while, you know the struggles I went through years ago. When I hit rock bottom, I worked my way backwards to find out how I got there. It all started with choices to hang out with and associate myself with people who had no use for God and what I believed. When I looked at my life, I realized I wasn’t happy. God took me back to this chapter and called me back to being who He called me to be in verse 2. It says, “Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night.”

If we will get away from the wrong crowd and start living the way God’s Word tells us to, we’ll not only find happiness, but joy. But God doesn’t stop there. He gives us another promise in verse three if we live that way. It says, “They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do.” God promises productivity, success, favor, and happiness in our life if we will just live the way He wants us to and associate ourselves with like minded people.

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