“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”
–Psalm 1:1-3 (NKJV)

I wanted to see how people viewed happiness in contrast to the opening words of this psalm, so I looked on the Internet briefly. People suggested all kinds of ways to obtain this quality, with the main motivation being that of pleasant feelings. Don’t get me wrong. Many of the things they had to say were good. But persons who find their own happiness outside of God espouse what I call a hollow happiness.

In contrast to what God has recorded in this psalm, they see happiness as only a subjective phenomenon which is elusive. In other words, they look at it as being a circumstantial experience, which goes up and down with the way life fluctuates, like a broken elevator.

God, however, tells us how to have true fulfillment, or what I call holy happiness. We have attached all kinds of weird meanings to the word “holiness,” but this is unfortunate, because the holiness that God talks about only brings lives that are full and complete.

Unlike a life that is empty or void of meaning, the person who listens to God knows that He only wants to bless them, and that His plans are good. Rather than walking, standing or sitting among sinful people, then, he or she will listen to what God has to say, and find purpose and completion in His loving arms. Whatever life brings them, His word is there for them to examine, and they chew on it like you would a flavorful piece of gum.

In other words, people who live in this way extract all of the meaning they can from it, because they know that if God is for them, who can be against them? So when life throws them a curveball, they turn scripture over and over in their minds to see what God might be telling them, and how they can correct their course. Instead of being tossed back and forth on the ocean of life, they are planted in the soil of peace and refreshment. Rather than stressing, life’s bumps become blessings.

So if you are feeling stressed out today, I would invite you to cast all your cares upon God, and instead of looking down at your own problems, look up to the author of blessings.

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