Is this blog about the “best day of my life”? Hm, not really.
Honestly, I couldn’t really think of a catchy title so I figured that would
draw in a few readers.
In all
seriousness though, what constitutes as a good day? Marriage? Babies? I have
experienced neither, so I can’t really say. But, today God has got me thinking
about what things in life make us happy. Why do we get excited and look forward
to certain things? Where does our security lie and what is the root of our
happiness? Is it even necessary to be happy? I have checked my heart numerous
times in the past year and asked myself these questions.
Being in India,
I am again faced with the fact of checking if my happiness flows from a pure
heart. The Psalmist declares that all his fountains are in God. Do I desire
twenty minutes of internet rather than spending that time with the boys? It’s
so important that the right things make us happy. Now, God gives us good gifts
so it’s obviously not wrong to enjoy them. But, my heart’s cry is that I would
find the greatest happiness in what the Lord deems succesful.
For instance,
God had given us crazy favor here. CRAZY! Not only have we gotten to pray over
randos on the street, but we’ve also gotten to form a friendship with a female
Hindu pastor as well as a group of people that work at an NGO that fights human
trafficking. Just the other day, we sang worship songs in their office as they
listened to us. That stuff makes me happy.
Sometimes I
view this season as God testing me as he tested Abraham with Isaac. Granted,
it’s nowhere near that severe or difficult. But, I see how the Lord gave Isaac
as a blessing and yet found it suitable to test Abraham and check his heart to
see if he loved the gift more than the giver. Honestly, I feel like the Lord
has been teaching me this lesson for well over a year now. What good things has
he given me that I have turned into idols? I refuse for my happiness be ruled
by anything but Jesus! That statement in itself is terrifying. But, I say it
more as a prayer than anything. I hope we can all be encouraged to test if
beautiful things like Isaacs have taken a wrongful place in our lives.
