This Week's Biblical Reflection

 

 

This week’s biblical reflection: 

 

Woodrow Kroll, Proverbs: God’s Guide for Life’s Choices (United States: The Good News Broadcasting Associations, Inc. 1996), 51-62.

 

(Mr. Kroll is the General Director and Bible Teacher for Back to the Bible)

 

 

WISDOM AND YOUR HAPPINESS

 

 

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom.”  Proverbs 3:13

 

 

Everybody wants to be happy, but it would seem that most people look for happiness in all the wrong places. For example, some search for an elusive happiness in promiscuous living; others in their work or their family.  But happiness is the fruit of God’s wisdom, and if you are to find it, you must search for happiness in the right place and pursue it in godly wisdom.

 

Much of our happiness depends on our attitudes toward it.  Is wanting to be happy a sin?  Should you settle for the unhappiness of a misunderstood life, or does God want you to enjoy your earthly life?  Is happiness the most important thing to you?  How you view happiness will largely determine on your answers to these questions.  What is your attitude?

 

An Inconsistent Attitude

 

There are two extremes in the pursuit of happiness.  One is represented by the American playwright George Bernard Shaw who said, “I don’t want to be happy because I don’t have time for such a luxury.” A surprising number of Christians fall into that camp.  They feel that happiness is somehow similar to sinfulness.

 

This approach, however, is inconsistent with nature.  Why would God make smiling so healthy for us if He did not want us to engage in it? It is so easy.  It takes 72 muscles to frown and only 14 to smile.  In addition, researches have found that people who are not satisfied with life increase their risk of pre-mature death by at least ten percent.  Unhappiness, it appears, is not compatible with good health (Proverbs 17:22).

 

This attitude also does not fit Christ’s lifestyle.  Jesus must have some sense of humor, a characteristic associated with happy people. How else can we explain such comical illustrations as a man with a plank in his eye (Matthew 7:2-5) or a camel trying to crawl through the eye of a needle (Matthew 1924)?  Although Isaiah called Him “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), Jesus enjoyed good times with friends (see John 2:1-11 and Luke 7:34).  This certainly does not sound like a man who avoided happiness as though it were a sin.

 

An Inappropriate Attitude

 

The other extreme goes much farther back in time.  It pre-dates the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), but he expressed it best when he said, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” A lot of people today will agree who consider happiness the chief aim of life.

 

However, for a Christian, happiness is not the “aim and end of human existence.”  To adopt this philosophy is to place yourself and your pleasure at the center of your world.  That does not mean Christians are unhappy people: who has more to be happy about than one whose sins are forgiven and who is certain of heaven?  But Christians do not tune their lives, their fortunes and their futures to the rhythm of happiness. 

 

A Biblical Attitude

 

From a biblical perspective, happiness is a by-product of right choices, and right choices are the result of godly wisdom.  Happiness comes to us when we are confident that God is perfect and just.   Life is unfair, and we will be unfair, and we will be unhappy if we think it should be.  But life’s fairness is not the issue; God’s fairness is the issue of happiness.  If we believe that God is sovereignly controlling the events of our lives so that what happens to us is ultimately for our good and for Hi glory (Romans 8:28), we will find a measure of happiness even the tough times of our lives.  Happiness is a peace of mind that confronts the storms of life with the steadfastness and stability of a deeply rooted tree.  None of this happiness is by chance.  The key is to make our choices based on God’s Word.

 

 

In this article, Mr. Kroll also states that: If you are looking for happiness, it cannot be found in simplicity, secularism, stoicism, pleasure or wealth.

 

All of the evidence points to the fact that the secret to happiness is not found in simplicity, secularism, stoicism, pleasure or wealth.  These are the places where the world encourages us to look, but ultimately we find they are only shallow pools and not the springs of happiness that we were promises.  We will never find happiness in them because it just isn’t there….

 

Happiness is not the result of raucous living; it is the reward for righteous living. A life lived skillfully, a life that filters every decision and experience though the pages of God’s Word, is certain to be a happy life….

 

If we pursue the happiness that comes only through God’s wisdom, we should expect to see some tangible results from our discovery of divine wisdom.  We are not disappointed.  Proverbs promises some of the consequences from the pursuit of happiness through heaven’s wisdom:

 

·        Long life (3:16):  God’s wisdom is beneficial to both heart and soul.  The happiness of a long life finds its origins in His wisdom.

·        Riches and honor: When combined with godliness, wealth can be used as an instrument to facilitate our happiness and the happiness of others.

·        Pleasant paths (3:17): God’s wisdom warns of pitfalls and obstacles and offers routes to avoid them. 

·        Peace (3:17): Wisdom reminds us that happiness comes as we trust God to take care of the problems. It is God’s paths, not yours, which leads to a happy and peaceful destination.

  

  

Reflection:

 

According to Matthew 6:33, the Bible teaches that happiness can be yours:  “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:32-34 in Context)

 

“Seek first”

·        the notion here is not first as opposed to second or third

·        it is first as PRIMARY, first as ONLY that which has value in itself

·        if you “seek” in that way there are certain consequences that will come and other things will be added such as: rewards, blessings, etc.

·        But you get those things not by seeking them directly; you get them as consequences of seeking that which is good in itself.

 

 

As you seek God’s divine wisdom through His Word, we pray that God will bless you as you trust Him to take care of you this week.  Remember, it is God’s path, not yours, which leads to a happy and peaceful destination