Road Map to Happiness

“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Matthew 16: 24-26

Ever notice how many books have been written about Happiness?  Just in my Nook library I have two – The Happiness Project and Delivering Happiness.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the development of the online business Zappos in Delivering Happiness.  At the close of the book, the author, Tony Hsieh, writes “I learned that one of the consistent findings from the research was that people are very bad at predicting what will actually bring them sustained happiness.  Most people go through their lives thinking ‘When I get ___, I will be happy, or When I achieve ____, I will be happy.’…but the happiness they thought they would achieve fades fairly quickly.”  He then writes about three types of happiness – Pleasure, Passion, and Higher Purpose.  Research has shown that of the three types of happiness, the longest lasting is Higher Purpose.  He defines this as “…about being part of something bigger than yourself that has meaning to you” and says, “Many people go through life chasing after the pleasure type of happiness, thinking that once they are able to sustain that, then they will worry about the passion, and if they get around to it, look for their higher purpose.”

Jesus wrote this story a long time ago – “…whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Isn’t it wonderful that in Christianity, we have the opportunity, indeed the command, to build our lives on the foundation that ultimately leads to the longest lasting happiness?  This has been God’s hope and plan throughout the Bible.  This prosperity is not to be confused with pleasure in every moment, not even happiness in every moment, but the kind of happiness that lasts through time.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, You wrote the book so long ago and we, as humans, keep trying to improve upon it.  Thank you for providing not only the road map to happiness, through devotion to you, but the Holy Spirit to help me stick to the road.  Forgive me for the times I try to develop my own road to happiness and thank you for welcoming me back to Your road when I realize how futile mine is.  Most of all, thank you for the lasting happiness that comes from following You.  Amen

Lori Snyder-Sloan (reprinted with permission from her devotional book, Faithfully Devoted to God)