CHAPTER 7: WHERE DOES TRUE HAPPINESS BEGIN?

HUMAN HISTORY IS THE STORY of our desperate search for true and lasting happiness. Even those people who appear to “have it all” long for something more, and sadly, they often give up hope of ever finding contentment and joy.

In the midst of hopelessness, God offers the good news of his transforming grace, mercy, love, and eternal happiness: “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge” (Revelation 22:17, NET).

It’s the Lord Who Truly Satisfies

Our greatest needs and longings can be fulfilled only in God, the “fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 2:13).

Despairing people everywhere thirst for gladness, trying to derive it from sources that cannot ultimately satisfy. They eagerly drink from contaminated water surrounded by huge signs with neon letters flashing, “Fun and Happiness!”

Sometimes there’s no fun at all, and usually what little happiness there is quickly evaporates, leaving shame and regret. If the signs were accurate, they would warn, “Deadly Poison,” with the caveat underneath: “May taste good before it kills you.”

God laments the poor choices we make when searching for happiness: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

When we’re thirsty, we don’t look up “water” on Wikipedia. We don’t go to social media to find out what others say about water. We don’t drink out of the nearest puddle. Personally, I go to the faucet and satisfy my thirst by drinking some of the world’s best water from the Bull Run water system here in Oregon.

Similarly, in the spiritual realm, I find God to be pure, refreshing, and satisfying. My happiest days are when I drink most deeply of him. I also know that if I don’t drink of him, whatever else I drink from will leave me thirsty, dissatisfied, and sick.

George Whitefield wrote, “I drank of God’s pleasure as out of a river. Oh that all were made partakers of this living water.”[1]

Most Offers of Happiness Are Fraudulent

Jonestown was a socialist community and cult in South America. In 1978, after murdering a US congressman and four others, Jim Jones gathered his cult members, who had relocated from the United States to Guyana, and served them a grape-flavored drink laced with cyanide. He killed himself and 912 of his followers.

From this came the expression “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” which means, “Following someone blindly is a very bad idea.” This is good advice for gullible people who are prone to believe that counterfeits can deliver happiness.

Trusting Jim Jones, and all fake sources of happiness, brings pain and loss. Jesus, in contrast, is fully worthy of our trust. He, who drank the cup of suffering on our behalf so we could be saved (see Matthew 26:27-28), makes this offer: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).

We’re free to be unhappy. We’re free to search for happiness where it can’t be found. We’re free to eat chocolate-covered cyanide. What we’re not free to do is reinvent God, the universe, or ourselves so that what isn’t from God will bring us happiness. It cannot, and it never will.

Are you thirsty for happiness—for meaning, peace, contentment? Jesus invites you to join hundreds of millions throughout history and across the globe, and a multitude of those now living in his immediate presence, to come to him and drink the best water in the universe—the only refreshment that will ever fully and eternally satisfy.

The Holy Spirit Delivers Happiness

Once we’ve come to Christ and experienced his refreshment, part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to infuse us with happiness in God.

English theologian Richard Sibbes (1577–1635) wrote, “Though we have not always the joy of the Spirit, yet we have the Spirit of joy.”[2] In other words, even in times of sorrow, happiness is not far away, since the Holy Spirit, who is also the Happy Spirit, indwells every believer.

Did you find it jarring to see the Holy Spirit referred to as the Happy Spirit? I am certainly not proposing a name change! But the Spirit’s connection with happiness is explicitly biblical.

Nine qualities are listed as the fruit of the Spirit, the first being love and the second, joy (see Galatians 5:22-23). The Contemporary English Version renders it, “God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind . . .”

We’re told that Kingdom living is “about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17, CEV). Luke tells us that Jesus was “full of joy through the Holy Spirit” (Luke 10:21, NIV). The verse is also rendered this way: “The Holy Spirit made Jesus feel very happy” (ERV).

By being happy in the Holy Spirit, in Christ, and in the Father, we lay claim to the fact that God is infinitely bigger and more powerful than the Fall. We affirm that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will reverse the Curse and reign over a new universe.

By faith we draw upon that glorious and eternally happy world Christ purchased and promised us. Our present happiness whispers and sometimes shouts that our God lives among us and works in the world—and in our hearts—every minute of every hour of every day.

Can We Find Happiness in Nature?

Our happy God is the God of all beauty, which he kindly shares with all of us.

Thomas Traherne (1636–1674), an English poet and theologian, wrote, “Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God . . . you never enjoy the world.”[3]

Through God’s kindness, unbelievers can experience limited joy, but when we know and love the Creator—when we’ve tasted of his eternal refreshment—our heartfelt delight in his world is magnified. Seeking happiness in anything without God is like seeking water without wetness or sun without light.

When I was a young Christian, one of the hymns we often sang at my church featured these words:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in his wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of his glory and grace.[4]

If the things of Earth were all sinful, those words would make more sense. But shouldn’t drawing close to our Creator make the beauties and wonders of his Earth brighter to us, not dimmer?

After coming to Christ, Jonathan Edwards said,

The appearance of everything was altered; there seemed to be, as it were, a calm, sweet cast or appearance of divine glory in almost everything. God’s excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon, and stars; in the clouds and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water and all nature.[5]

As I’ve walked with God over the decades, the sin-centered and shallow attractions of this Earth have indeed grown dimmer. But the happy-making beauties of this Earth’s animals, trees, flowers, oceans, and sky, and of friends, family, good stories, great food, and music have grown brighter.

Finding our greatest pleasure in God elevates our enjoyment of those happiness-giving things. They’re transformed from mud pies to mouthwatering desserts to be fully enjoyed—at the proper time and place—at the celebratory table of God’s goodness.

Loving nature and beauty should be enhanced by loving the God who made them and reveals himself in them. How could it be otherwise?

Common Grace Is a Bridge to the Gospel

In a letter to his father, Scottish author George MacDonald (1824–1905) wrote of the barriers he faced in turning to Christ:

One of my greatest difficulties in consenting to think of religion was that I thought I should have to give up my beautiful thoughts & my love for the things God has made. But I find that the happiness springing from all things not in themselves sinful is much increased by religion. God is the God of the Beautiful, Religion the Love of the Beautiful, & Heaven the House of the Beautiful—nature is tenfold brighter in the sun of righteousness, and my love of nature is more intense since I became a Christian. . . . God has not given me such thoughts, & forbidden me to enjoy them. Will he not in them enable me to raise the voice of praise?[6]

Paul built a bridge to the gospel through identifying God as the universal source of happiness. Speaking to unbelievers, Paul said that God “blessed you by giving you rain from above as well as seasonal harvests, and satisfying you with food and happiness” (Acts 14:17, CEB).

In the same context, Paul explained, “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them” (14:15, NIV).

Paul said that this same God who kindly gives us rain, harvests, food, and happiness has done even more for us—he has purchased eternal life for us in the redemptive work of Jesus!

Shouldn’t we share this message today? Shouldn’t we say to people, “The same God who gives you food and music and sports and pets and the wonders of creation offers you eternal happiness in Jesus”?

This common grace from God extends to everyone. Jesus said that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

Living in Oregon, surrounded by stunning natural beauty, I often ponder the irony that according to a Gallup poll, Portland, Oregon, where Nanci and I and our children grew up, has by far the highest percentage of “religiously unaffiliated” people in the United States, with Seattle and San Francisco tied for second, nine percentage points behind.[7]

So if happiness comes from God, does this mean people who live in Portland can’t sometimes be happy? No, because for the present, people can reject God while still enjoying the benefits of his common grace, including loving relationships; natural and artistic beauty; and physical, emotional, and intellectual pleasure.

The bad news is that those who deny God are living on borrowed time. This temporary situation will come to an abrupt end (see Hebrews 9:27-28; Revelation 20:11-15). David Murray identifies six kinds of happiness available to unbelievers and believers alike:

The one remaining component, available only to believers, is spiritual happiness. Murray calls this “a joy that at times contains more pleasure and delight than the other six put together.”[8]

Spiritual happiness comes in contemplating God and drawing close to him. Of course, the other six aren’t “unspiritual” forms of happiness. Because they’re God given, they’re spiritual, though not redemptive. But without the seventh kind of happiness, the first six are temporary.

After the termination of this present life, we can have one of two combinations:

What we will never have again is God without happiness or happiness without God.

Holiness Isn’t Enough

The simple truth is that we seek not what actually will make us happy but whatever we think will make us happy.

A teenage boy came to me with questions about his faith. He’d attended church all his life but now had some doubts. I assured him that even the writers of the Bible sometimes struggled. He wasn’t questioning any basic Christian beliefs, so I talked to him about holiness and happiness.

“What does God’s holiness mean?” I asked.

He gave a clear, biblical answer: “He’s perfect, without sin.”

“Absolutely true. Does thinking about God’s holiness draw you to him?”

He responded sadly, “No.”

I asked him whether he wanted to be holy 100 percent of the time.

“No.”

“Me neither,” I said. “I should, but I don’t.”

Then I surprised him by asking, “What do you want 100 percent of the time?”

He didn’t know the answer.

“Have you ever once thought, I don’t want to be happy?”

“No.”

“Isn’t that what you really want—happiness?”

He nodded, his expression saying, Guilty as charged. Friendships, sports, academics, video games—every activity, every relationship he chose—played into his desire to be happy. But I could see he felt that this longing was unspiritual, displeasing to God.

I opened the Bible and told him the word translated “blessed” in 1 Timothy 1:11 and 6:15 speaks of God being happy. I asked him to memorize these verses, replacing “blessed God” with “happy God.”

Then I asked him to list as many things as he could think of that pointed him to God’s happiness. They included backpacking, music, playing hockey, and favorite foods.

I said, “God could have made food without flavor, but he’s a happy God, so he created a world full of happiness. That means you can thank him for macaroni and cheese, for music, for Ping-Pong, and above all, for dying on the cross so you can know him and be forever happy.”

This young man had seen Christianity as a long list of things he should do that he didn’t think would make him happy and an even longer list of things he shouldn’t do that he imagined would have made him happy. That is a toxic faith—a faith that absolutely will not survive.

There’s Far Better News

Whether we realize it or not, we’ll choose the life we believe will make us happy. We’ll live a wealth-centered life if we believe wealth brings happiness. We’ll live a God-centered life if we believe God brings happiness. Just as no one shops for milk at a junkyard, no one seeks happiness from a cranky God. We never go to anyone to get what we don’t believe they have.

In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic hopeful and eventual gold medalist Eric Liddell is challenged by his sister, Jennie, about his decision to train for the Olympics. He plans to leave for the mission field but delays so he can attempt to qualify in the 400-meter race. In doing so, Jennie thinks he’s putting God second. (At least that’s how she’s portrayed in the movie, which appears in reality to have been unfair to her.[9]) But Eric sees things differently. He explains, “God . . . made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure.”[10]

The movie’s version of Eric and Jennie shows two people who believe in the same God . . . yet don’t. Both of them fear and love God. Both are committed to serving Christ. But Eric, who smiles warmly and signs autographs while his sister looks on disapprovingly, has something she lacks: a relaxed, heartfelt awareness of God’s happiness—in his creation, in his people, and in all of life, including sports and competition.

Eric wants to serve God as much as his sister does, but he senses God’s delight and purpose in making him a fast runner. If God finds pleasure in the majesty of a horse (see Job 39:19-25), surely he finds even greater pleasure in Eric’s running for the pure joy of it. Because of the God-centered joy this gift brings him, Eric tells Jennie that giving up running “would be to hold [God] in contempt.”[11]

Both Eric and his sister want to reach the world with the gospel. But Eric’s good news is far better news. Why? Because it’s about more than deliverance from Hell—he understands that God is delightfully engaged in all he has created, not just church and ministry. In the eyes of both believers and unbelievers, Eric Liddell’s belief in a happy God makes his life profoundly attractive.