The Secret to Happiness

Imagine if you will, losing everything that you have right now. Say your home burned down, your spouse left you, and you were fired from that cubicle contained job. Then you wake up and realize that it was just a dream and that you still have everything (like on the last season of Dallas). Would you breathe a sigh of relief?

Being content with the way that things are is a choice that you can make. The apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:12 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”Keep in mind that Paul was writing his letters from jail. His life as the first Christian missionary was not exactly a cakewalk. In 2 Corinthians 11 he wrote: “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

Now those are some rotten living conditions! It makes my living with Parkinson’s seem like a cakewalk! How did he manage to stay content? He knew that happiness is not something that is handed to you by the world. It is an attitude of gratitude that you choose to live by, despite whatever crap the world hands you.