Lately I’ve been hearing a lot from women about wanting to
be happy.
What does true happiness consist of?
Well, for some of us, we equate happiness with having enough
money to pay our bills, buy nice things and travel. There are those of us, who
desire to be married and think a husband will make us happy. And then there are
those of us, who think happiness will come when we get rid of the husband. ~Smile~
I’ll be happy when I lose weight. I’ll be happy when I have
a baby. I’d be happier if I could go to college. I would be happier with a better job.
The truth is—even if we have all the things we think will make us happy—we still encounter problems.
Let that husband up and leave you one day. He might walk out
the door or he might go feet first. Then what? Anyone who has ever raised a
teenager knows what it feels like to want to commit murder on any given day. Yup, that was the baby you wanted so badly to be happy.
Many of the things we equate happiness with, are fleeting—they’re
nothing concrete to hold on to. All we need is a life unscripted episode to show up, and
bam! It could all be gone in a flash!
We were never promised the good life doused in happiness. That’s
the World trying to sell us a pile of cow dung in a glittery box.
Jesus told us, “In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
See the first sentence, “you
will have trouble.” No, if ands or butts about it. We will have
problems, trials and tribulations. Sorry, but it’s going to happen—no one can
escape.
Okay, so now He has laid the reality of life
or the bad news on us, but He doesn’t leave us hanging. He quickly lavishes us
with the good news of the promise. He has overcome the world and all its
problems, heartaches, disappointments, mayhem and foolishness! And in that we are to take heart or as the
Amplified version tells us, “be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy].”
But nowhere does it say anything about
being happy. Therefore, let us stop searching for happiness and putting posters
on Facebook with untruths such as, “Everyone deserves to be happy.” It’s all foolishness.
No such thing exists, sin doesn’t allow it. And God has never agreed to it—after
the Garden incident.
Joy! Peace! And love! That’s what the
Messiah left for us. And through the Holy Spirit who lives in us…we can do
(accomplish) all things through Christ our Lord, who is our strength! [my
paraphrase] Philippians 4:13 NKJV
I want to put this in a everyday practical
light by using my most recent life struggle.
After being diagnosed with hyper tension in
April, about a week later I received a report which diagnosed me to have three additional aliments and would need to take more medications.
Long story short, two weeks into the meds
my blood pressure wasn’t budging much and my doctor added another medication. We
discussed putting off some of the other meds until later on down the line. It
was all too much to take at one time.
Well, girls…the most serve complications or
that crazy thing that only happens to 1%, decided to visit me.
Yup, the enemy came after me strong.
I completely changed my diet and exercise,
and focused on what the Word had to say about it all.
That’s a great start—right?!
But, life is not always that simple or easy.
Monday of last week, I started taking another
new medication. I had been praying for days, against the side effects of
digestive problems such as diarrhea and so on. I took that first pill confident
I was not going to experience any of the long lists of side effects. And guess
what? I didn’t! Nope, I experienced the unusual often fatal warning effects.
Yup!
I never even read them. Never prayed about
them. Didn’t see them coming.
By Thursday, I was so ill (and home alone),
I questioned the Holy Spirit if I should call for an ambulance? His response,
“Today is not your day to die!” I laid down and prayed until I feel asleep. I
was supposed to call my doctor, but I couldn’t be told to pick up another
prescription. I just stopped the medication as prescribed under the warning.
I spent the weekend with a foggy head, and all
types of body aches and a feelings of melancholy from the medication. All I could do was pray and
trust God!
But there has been one constant through all
of this—I’ve looked for the good, the joy and the peace—promised to me.
It wasn’t easy, but I did it.
My oldest daughter (an RN), was initially taking
my blood pressure twice a day. And her words began to prick at my faith. She
would take my pressure, and look at me and say, “It isn’t moving!” But it was
moving, maybe just a little bit, but it was moving and my heart beat wasn’t
ringing as loudly in my ear. That was something, so I thought.
After speaking with my doctor, she did
change my medication around and my daughter was still not satisfied with my
progress.
I bought an automatic reader to do it
myself. I needed someone to agree it could be better, but to also acknowledge
it was moving, even if that person was me! I kept looking for the good in all
of it, so I would not become discouraged and feed into the enemy’s whispers,
“It’s not working, you’re going to have a stroke or better yet—die!”
Truthfully, my blood pressure was extremely
high and if I hadn’t passed the “EKG” I would have probably been hospitalized
on my first doctor’s visit. And my daughter was very concerned for me. But we
were coming from different points of view. Hers was medical—mine was spiritual.
Even when it was high, I spoke the Word
over myself and good pressure numbers and heart rate.
When I was so sick from the new meds and couldn’t
exercise or even come close to my goal steps, I still found the good in the
fact that it was not my day to die. And had peace knowing God was with me, and
granted me another day.
Yes sisters, life can seem so unfair at
times. Things happen that we have no control over and we feel duped because we
have tried so hard to do our best and we still get what feels like a beat down.
And without a doubt, we can easily find ourselves in a place where we are battling depression
because “we are not happy,” and “life is so unfair”.
There's a huge problem when looking for happiness...we miss the peace
and joy that Jesus so generously left us. Here I was, cooking all my meals,
cutting out high sodium and processed foods. Exercising, mediating on the Word,
and bam! I went totally backward from something that was supposed to help me.
I had been struggling for a good month to see
change and feel better. And I mean feel better like my old self. I might have
showed up with hypertension at the doctor’s, but I didn’t have one symptom.
Then I take meds to help me and I feel horrible.
Yes, I was tempted to feel sorry for
myself? Why? Because life has been far from easy for me. I had no control
over what happened to me as a child, and the rest played out from sin and poor choices.
Nonetheless, I was hopeful my 60’s would be easier. Why not?
I tell you why not, because it was never
promised to me or any of us.
But, we were given all we need to make it
through whatever comes our way. We just have to get into the Word, so we know
what to do and how to handle things.
Paul told the Church in Thessalonica, we are to give thanks in all situations for it is God’s will for us. Do, I
thank God for sickness? NO! Jesus corrected that before He even made it to the
Cross, but I do thank God for all the good I can see and find in the situation
at hand. And believe that He is somehow working it all together for my good.
Sisters, I know some of you are
experiencing difficult and challenging times right now. But if you will grab
hold of what the Word has to say (read your Bibles), you can have the “Shalom” type of peace that
is promised to us—nothing broken, nothing missing.
Happiness is a fleeting emotional state,
but the peace and joy of God which surpasses all human understanding is ours
for eternity. It’s concrete! It is real! It is yours for the taking! Amen!
Note: Today I feel better than I have since my first doctor's visit on Monday, April 18, 2016! My pressure is really staring to come down on a daily bases. And I continue to speak perfect numbers over myself. Amen!
Until next week...
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