Are you happy?

I think everyone in the world wants to be happy. Greg Laurie in an article titled “God’s Definition of Happiness” stated this, “True happiness is independent of our circumstances; it is self-contained. Regardless of what is happening internally or externally, I believe it is possible to be a truly happy person, a genuinely blessed person.”  And to that I say Amen, which is what I am talking about!

I have talked to many people through the years, my appointment book used to be full daily with people coming and talking to me about all their problems and then asking for prayer. I found that they really didn’t want advice or prayer they just wanted a listening ear. But I digress, my point is this, if I want to be happy then I find the best way to gain that state of mind is not by infringing on someone else’s happiness but to be peaceful within myself and to try with all my heart to make you happy even if it is in a small way. A person that is never satisfied with what they have but always want something more has what we call “a hole in their soul” and they keep trying to fill it with possessions when the very thing they are searching for is something that can only be supplied by the Creator of their very soul and that is God.

You have to be happy where you are, here is an excellent object lesson I read: Take a carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee, fill three pots with water and place each on a high fire. In each pot place one of the three things, a carrot, an egg and some ground coffee beans. Let them sit and boil about twenty minutes, then take the carrots and the eggs and place them in a bowl. Ladle the coffee out and place it in a cup. Tell me what do you see? They all faced the same adversity, boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans are unique, however. After they are in the boiling water, they change the water. Which are you? When adversity comes how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?  Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life or be happy until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling… can you still make them smile?