Have you seen the commercials for the Klondike bar? They raise an interesting point. “What would you do for a Klondike bar”? They ask. Then people begin to offer outrageous responses at what they’d be willing to do for just one little bar. Well, though it is just a simple commercial, it raised a thought in my head. What would you do for true happiness? Many of us are more than willing to not only answer this question, but actually put our words into action. For many, it is the almighty dollar and we put in long hours at gaining as much as possible. For some, it is pursued through peace of mind. Still others, insist it is through great relationships. Of course we could list thousands of great things that might offer some short lived solution. Still what would we be willing to do for true happiness?
I have found it the non-religious life of God. What I mean is that church is not the answer nor is just reading the Bible etc… I have found happiness through knowing God intimately and the assurance within that He knows and loves me just the way I am. This realization doesn’t make me want to be perfect so that God might like me more, but rather it frees me to pursue God with a passion to become all that He has created me to be! I may never attain perfection, in fact I’m positive of one thing in life and that is, “I will never be perfect”. Yet, I can passionately go after all that my hearts desires because I know that God has placed these desires there. Through the wisdom of the Bible, I can discern through my desires and go after those that best reflect the character of God.
How do we discover the “Life” of God? We do so by spending time with Him, through His Word, in prayer, and sometimes or maybe lots of time just sitting and listening to what He might say within our hearts. He will guide you in every choice and decision if you will allow Him. In the book of John, Jesus claimed that He came that we might have life and have it to the fullest! To me, this means that God Himself is concerned with my life, and my happiness. If I wait on Him, as the Bible suggests, then I may find this happiness that so many of are in full pursuit of. The key in this kind of happiness, is a personal willingness to allow God to direct us and not pursue self seeking means to our desires that may seem to be what we want but may in the end produce a short lived joy with much regret to follow.
Happpiness does come from God and it does come many times in ways that we would not expect. That becomes the test of our trust or faith. Will we surrender to His way? Keep in mind the Bible does say that His ways are much higher than ours.
Rodd Jaramillo 