Your happy place!

“Though you have not seen him, you love him.  Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” 1 Peter 1:8

If I was to ask you where is your happy place how would you respond? Is it the beach, river, ballfield, with family, or alone reading a book? So many of us spend our time and energy trying to get to our happy place. We chase happiness, hoping one day that every minute of the day will be in our happy place, wherever that may be.

The truth for Christians is that our happy place should come from within ourselves and not from our  circumstances. Nowhere in Scripture will you find our happiness tied to the things of this world. This is what Jesus had to say about this world, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid….I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 14:27, 16:33).

The problem with too many Christians is that they look for their joy, their happy place, from the things of this world. Have you ever thought, “If I could only spend all my time lying on the beach, I would be happy, then my life would be perfect”? The truth is that Scripture tells us that our joy, our happiness does not come from the things of this world but comes from our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit allows us to have joy in this life despite our circumstances. So we can say like Paul,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character  produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark