True Happiness

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/26/genuine-happiness

True happiness? Isn’t that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Elusive and yet many still feel it’s achievable and thus have not given up hope chasing it. Perhaps it’s the carrot to spur the donkey on and we are donkeys to believe in fairy tales.

Riches and honour or money and fame we know don’t bring true happiness. Why? Because we know that once we have, we want more. More money, more fame, more honour. The human appetite is insatiable. The first billion to the next. The first Datukship to the next. The first platinum album to many more to come. The first house to the next. The first Rolex or PP or AP to the next. Even cameras, from 1 inch to crop to full frame!

Power and pleasure are even worse. The moment is fleeting but the quest may even take a lifetime. Is it all worth it? The power to decide the destiny of thousands. With great power comes great responsibility. Power and pleasure are dangerous pursuits as they tend to get addictive. We want the next high, the next big thing and the reality is that it is a downward spiral as the aftermath of the mountain top experience is down at the pits. That is why drugs and drink are just not worth the trouble. The hangover is just too much of a headache (forgive me for the pun)!

True happiness comes when we are able to deal with the ups and downs of ordinary life. Life is mostly ordinary. 24 x 7, 365 days. If we can deal with that, we can find true happiness. But as God has put eternity in our hearts, ordinary life may be too long a toil for us. We cannot live in the ordinary for eternity. We need something out of this world to look forward to. In the end, Solomon, the wisest man during his time and perhaps the wisest man of all time, concluded – true happiness can only be found in God.

We are made in His image and He has put eternity in our hearts. Thus we can only find true happiness in Him. This is because only God can make the ordinary extraordinary and only God can make our life meaningful beyond the riches and honour, money and fame and power and pleasure. Our satisfaction may only be everlasting in God because He gives us eternal life and everlasting life here on earth and in the time to come. Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. The one and only truth which is the only way to God and thus the only life we may find refreshing, satisfying and everlasting. If true happiness is the Holy Grail of life, then we’ll be surprised that it’s actually not elusive as the answer is and has been staring us in the face all this while! We are made by God and to be like God – thus only God can satisfy our deepest need and longing! God is spirit, and so are we. Seek out God with all our heart, soul and strength and we will find true happiness.