How to Achieve Happiness? Start Here…
My bad.
“The fact that God makes good come out of my wrong does not make my wrong any better; I have simply utilised God’s permissive will to go in a circle when I should have gone straight.”
— Oswald Chambers
Our Pastor delivered an amazing sermon today that truly got me thinking…
He told a story of his brother who, on a return trip from overseas, had eaten a sandwich in London that was off (and obviously didn’t know it). On the plane trip back to the US, he found himself spending most of the time very ill in the tiny toilet, mostly groaning and retching and truly wishing he hadn’t eaten that sandwich.
It is apparent that most people live like that… We make choices in life that are not the best, and it causes us to live a life that is defeated, sad, self-loathing and “toxic” to our happiness.
If you knew that “eating a (toxic) sandwich” would cause you to get seriously ill, would you eat it? Of course not. But emotionally we do that to ourselves all the time!!!
Sometimes, yes, you have decided that “eating the sandwich” at that moment was the best thing for you… and at first maybe you don’t realize the consequence. But most of us, the older we get, KNOW what’s going to happen later… down the road… when we have to deal with the natural consequences of our poor choice.
From some of the poor choices we make, we suffer through…
- a strained relationship that makes your marriage a mess
- guilt and resentment for things that did not work out how WE selfishly wanted
- private sin that (as the Psalmist says) “made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. All day and all night Your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day” (Psalm 32)
- trying to rationalize and prove yourself right when you have made a wrong decision, and it turns out worse than if you’d just admitted it and moved on
- bankruptcy because of an impulsive decision that we thought would be beneficial… but turned out disastrous
- or just simple daily decisions that have caused us to be short-changed in our relationships, happiness and overall satisfaction in life.
When we realize that all we have to do is… just make small changes here and there, things will be different.
Some consequences of our poor choices: unhappy jobs, depression, suicide, poor health, divorce, wrecked friendships, etc.
Just by refusing to make small changes… we find that our old stinking thinking… spoils everything in your life…
If I were paying attention… and learned from my past mistakes, I would KNOW NOT TO DO IT AGAIN!!!
There is really a simple answer. This is what the repentant Psalmist in Psalm 32 says:
“Let me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight: Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.”
— Psalm 32:8–9 (The Message)
Read Psalm 32:5–10 in The Message.
How Can I Break This Cycle?
How can I WAKE UP… (and stop eating bad food)… stop making the same mistakes over and over?
Repentance: … change your mind, change your life.
CHANGE YOUR MIND. CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
“You cannot take your old stinking thinking into your bright new future.”
— CB
Ask God to soften your heart, to take the spiritual blinders off… By YOUR Spirit, Lord… help me to wake up…
We all have, in our lives, unhealed wounds, unmet needs, pride, hardness of heart, demandingness. No one lives a life that has every need met perfectly… The issue is: how are we going to respond?
Our natural tendency is to respond by “ACTING OUT” or “SHUTTING DOWN”.
- Acting out: anger / revengefulness / hate / controlling / dissatisfaction / criticism / judging / putting people down / constant negativity / victimizing others
- Shutting down: passive aggression / isolating ourselves / denying companionship / playing the fool
These things are the emotional equivalent of the guy throwing up in the toilet, retching and groaning… and generally in a bad state of discomfort.
It’s been said that half the beds in mental hospitals would be vacated tomorrow if the patients could feel forgiveness and be rid of their guilt.
It’s a proven fact that happiness is tethered to confession…
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
— 1 John 1:9
Read 1 John 1:8–10 in The Message.
Confession and repentance will free you from the destructive forces that are hell-bent on destroying your life.
… Don’t be like a stubborn mule that needs a bit and bridle to control it… (Psalm 32)
Are you finding your life “stuck in the toilet of your poor choices”… retching, groaning and wondering why you are here AGAIN?!
Read James 5:13–18 in The Message.
It’s the secret to a happy life… Such a great relief to know all I have to do is admit my wrongs, and move towards making them right… But SSssoooo hard to do…
Listen to “Hiding Place” by Jared Anderson: Hiding Place on YouTube
How to achieve happiness? Start here: Allow God to do a deep spiritual work in your soul.
Further Food for Thought
King David… some of his poor choices soured his life… he had to wake up…
Although he was a follower of God, he still had some periodic lapses in judgement…
- he watched porn (kinda); he was a lustful adulterer…
- he was selfish and manipulating…
- a murderer…
- his children were also kinda bad (he was an absent parent)
- he tried to highlight his own legacy and tried to take the spotlight off God
- he was arrogant and self-opinionated
- he took his eye off his REAL prize.