The Happiness of God

As God gives through his only Son,

And we receive what he has done,

Because we stand saved-at-peace,

We know now God’s sweet release.

This happiness of the eternal Lord,

Is nothing of our own we could afford,

What he’s done he did for all,

To answer the Father’s eternal call.

Now we may stand simply impressed,

Clothed in his love we are dressed,

But our cherished happiness isn’t the point,

God does ‘happiness’ when he does anoint.

***

“When Christ bought us at the cost of his own blood, it wasn’t first and foremost for our happiness – though to be saved by him will mean happiness itself.”

— N.T. Wright

EVERYONE wants to be happy and everyone deserves to be happy, but we inevitably miss the point when it comes to a sustainable happiness.

God wants us to be happy, just as our families want us to be happy, but happiness will ever elude us if we cannot still see the point of life. Happiness cannot just come. Just like our purpose, and other imagined gifts, none of this comes without a search. Those who would diligently search will uncover what it is God is anointing them to do.

Notwithstanding the above, there is an art to being happy, and that is about focusing on the simple truths of life. The simpler the truth the more powerful is our experience of joy, like the intrinsic fascination of observing the universe, a sunset, the machinery of a biological cell, and a frog bounding into a pond.

When we understand that the capacity to perceive happiness is the invitation to explore and find it, then we explore indeed, and we do eventually find what we have always been seeking. The key is what God is anointing us for. God has given us experiences and gifts and personalities and passions – all for the using. We can only truly be happy when we are using our God-given gifts in areas of our passion, by the utilisation of our experiences, which are complemented by our personalities.

Happiness is something God will give us if we truly give ourselves to God. The key is our salvation, for the true salvation experience is happiness itself.

***

The true salvation experience is happiness itself. We cannot be saved in Jesus Christ and not experience a wellspring of happiness, which is a down payment for the rest of our lives. Happiness does not follow the Christian life unless we have sunken our very purpose for living into the purposes of the kingdom of God itself.

© 2014 S. J. Wickham.