I have often meditated over those very words and their inherent meaning. Do I really believe that this right is given to me by a nation? Is it my right to be happy? WAIT! I need to read that statement again, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."
Oh I see now, I am only granted the right to pursue happiness. Well I have determined that this search will leave me unfulfilled because I will want more; I am insatiable. Truly and seriously insatiable. It seems futile to me to continue a pursuit of happiness that could potentially have no end in sight. If I am honest with myself and to whomever chooses to read this, I will always want more. I believe this to be my fleshly nature. If I have one cup of coffee I long for another...still decaf mind you as I am being such a good girl, for once! lol If I have one piece of birthday cake, I will want another because once that delectable wonderfully vanillaly sweet icing hits my mouth, I always want more. Gluttony get behind me! (7 deadly 7 deadly...!) Lord help me.
Back on track now. sorry! So it is no wonder that depression increases. One cannot help but get depressed when the attainment of happiness is no where in sight. When we do receive what we believe will make us happy, we find ourselves wanting once more. We could learn a lot from our ancestors and from modern day legal immigrant's "success" stories. When I have met business owners here in Texas, that are immigrants, I am astonished at their level of "happiness". Oh they are not even in the middle class yet, but guess what, that is not how they measure their happiness. Then I meet business owners, natural citizens, who have far more than the others yet they are miserable and in need of much more than what they have.
This is why seeking the Lord should be first and foremost among our daily tasks. Ask yourself the following questions: Where is He working? Where does He want you? Have you even thanked Him? Have you honored His name and will above your own today? Oh from one with very very swollen toes, I come to you with this that has been on my heart for some time.
Now I know that is just one yucky picture (and not my own toe btw), but you get my drift here...God has been all over me on this. So as to not be in pain alone, I am sharing with you. Misery does love company doesn't it? No really, I am grateful that my Heavenly Father takes the time to mold me and refine me, Lord knows I am glad He had not left me the way I was when we first met. And again when I strayed, He took my hand and led me on the path of righteousness for His name sake.
There is so much for each of us to learn but the most important is loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When all things are second to that then, we have joy complete.
The next thing we should pray for in following our Lord's example, is to recognize that He is the Provider of our daily bread and we should thank Him for it too. All that we have is just on loan, it is all His afterall. Another important component to our prayers is repentance. When we have unrepentant sin, whether overlooked or stubbornly held onto, it creates distance in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Although one's salvation is secure it does not mean their relationship is on the best terms. Think of it like a fight with your spouse, the two of you are angry but you are still married and still love one another. There is a noticable distance even if it is short lived. Distance interrupts the relationship, all relationships.
So today I turn to the Lord's prayer in my pursuit and this pursuit is not in vain. The end result is joy. Eternity with the Father and an inheritance with the Son, Heaven will truly be a wonderful place! I CAN'T WAIT!
Luke 11:2-4
"Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
In the tune of the old Shower to Shower commercials, "Have you had your prayer time today?"
Chel
3 comments:
i have been realizing the same thing...never satisfied when we chase after happiness or status or whatever this world SEEMS to offer. we only find true happiness in HIm, and in seeking his will. this world is empty and cold and most of us don't learn that until we've worked to earn those worldly things and came up alone and empty. i truly want no more to do with any of it. have you heard the song 'i just want you?' by Vickie Yohe? i'll put it on my player on my profile, it just what we're talking about. thanks sister for speaking what God has been showing me. what a confirmation that is.
We have in the last year learned the real meaning of Pursuit of Happiness. We moved to Tennessee and bought a new house thinking that everything would be alright in it, since my hubby has Parkinson's and works doing web design and internet marketing from home( our own business)and fixing things is not his thing. We unfortunately bought the house of horrors and last year after two fires we lost the house and ran out of money trying to fight a worthless builders warranty. We can truly say that it has not been easy but everything we had one would have thought could bring happiness was gone in wink of an eye, we are so thankful that our happiness did not rest in what we lost but in knowing our Precious Saviour. We are presently renting a house and as life goes our car blew up last week. Not sure what is coming next but we do know the One whom does. We give it all to him and he sustains us no matter what because only knowing Christ is the way to true Happiness.
You are so right, we are such a spoiled society and somehow think we deserve more. I have a teenager who believes she deserves more too but she's learning that you are only truly happy when you work for what you NEED and not what you WANT!! She is 16 and not 26,36,46 and certainly not too young to know this by now. Society makes it difficult to think clear but not impossible.
I certainly have been guilty of holding onto to things too long and before I know it I am depressed and not allowing myself to carry on and let God handle the things I cannot......I hope your toe feels better soon. LOL Kae
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