Such a trivial assumption, when we ask, "Doesn't God want me to be happy?" Our personal happiness isn't where God starts. Though, He is a good God, as when we yield our lives and purposes to Him, a fruit that results is joy and peace, among others. God calls individuals for His distinct purpose, which may or may not immediately manifest as stereotypical "happiness" or comfort in you, in your life as you planned it. But its results are eternal.
Certainly, when He spoke of Abraham, he said, "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him," which was his son, Isaac, in the years of Abraham and Sarah's old age, to produce the Hebrew people, through which God would bring about His intentions for the world. God had his Own purpose, and He chose Abraham through whom to achieve it. (Gen.18:19)
God did not blow sunshine on Paul when he got his attention by blinding him on the road to Damascus. "But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things I will yet reveal to you." (Acts 26:16) God chose Paul as a witness - not so he could make him feel good and find stereotypical happiness with a life of no challenge. Paul faced many challenges - yet as expressed before, so also came joy, as a result of his obedience to, and participation in, God's purpose.
Each of us may choose to live out our life reaching for what we, in our limited vision, perceive as happiness; or giving the wheel to One who sees all, and can make us part of a story that is far bigger than ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment