If I Only Had This, I Would Be Happy—Wrong! - Ben Bailey

If I Only Had This, I Would Be Happy—Wrong!

Have you ever said to yourself, “My life would be happier if…”? If I had more money, if I had a better job, if I had a better education, I would be happier. We have all had thoughts along those lines at one time or another in our life. Would these things really make your life happier? More money might make you worry more about losing it. A better job might mean more responsibility and more stress. A better education may not be the answer to the problem either. The real problem is we look to the wrong places for happiness. C. S. Lewis put it so simply when he said, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” 

Think back to the first time this failed venture arises in Scripture. Adam and Eve had everything they needed to live the best life provided by God in the Garden. They did not have to worry about the stresses of life that often bring us unhappiness. They truly were in Paradise! Despite living in Paradise already, the Devil was able to convince them something was missing. He tempted them with the forbidden fruit, and they thought they were missing something. Was it how good the fruit looked (Lust of the Eyes) that tempted them? Maybe It was how the fruit would improve their knowledge and power that appealed to them (Pride of Life). Or was it a desire to taste that new fruit they had never eaten (Lust of the Flesh)? Adam and Eve failed to realize that true happiness does not come from the pursuits of this earthly life but from God himself. God was the source of their happiness; they were just deceived into believing something was missing (Gen. 3:1-15).

Another clear picture of someone who had it all but could not be satisfied is Solomon. God blessed Solomon with wisdom, wealth, and power beyond our wildest imaginations (1 Kings 3:5-15). Even more important than the physical blessings Solomon had was His close relationship with God (1 Kings 3-5). Solomon truly had it all. Surprisingly, things change very quickly for Solomon and his happiness. He begins to add more stuff, and more wives and more earthly pursuits in his life. This man who was blessed supernaturally by God finally reaches a point in his life where he is so despondent and depressed that his conclusion on life is this: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled: And indeed, all was vanity and grasping for the wind.  There was no profit under the sun” (Eccl. 3:11). How could Solomon reach such a low point in his life? He failed to learn that our happiness is not based on earthly pursuits, but rather our happiness is in God. 

What about us today? Are we any different? Do we still try to base our happiness on the successes and attainments of earthly pursuits? Have you been where Adam and Eve, and Solomon were? Do you feel like if you could just taste something new or if you could just have more it would make you happy? Are you ready to learn an important but hard lesson? None of that stuff will really make you happy. Why not? Because true happiness is only in God not in earthly pursuits! Listen to the words of Psalm 1: “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3). May we learn the wonderful lesson that wherever we are at and whatever state we are in we can be happy because of God (Phil. 4:11). –Ben Bailey