Recently, I have heard the statement in some form, that God doesn’t want us happy. If so, then what does He want us, sad? The word sullen comes to my mind when I hear this. I find it hard to believe that being happy is not in God’s plan for us. Perhaps what is being said needs a little more, there has to be more to this statement. I do believe God wants more than us to just be happy.
What is happiness? Happiness is an emotion. We need to be in control of our emotions, James 1:19-20 “slow to anger,” Ephesians 4:26-27 – “be angry and sin not.” Happiness is a choice, like love, we can choose who to love, how to love, when to love. We feel the affects of love when someone does something nice for us or is speaking our love language. Much like being offended, when we are offended by something or what someone says, we can feel offended and that’s on us. No one can make us feel a certain way without our permission. I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said that. So happiness is an emotion that we can control and is a choice.
There is happiness in obedience and I believe they go hand in hand. Like the song says,”Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” “When happiness is commanded, happiness is obedience.”
- The Bible says, “Delight yourself in the Lord” – Psalm 37:4.
- The Bible says, “Be glad in the Lord” – Psalm 32:11.
- The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord” – Philippians 3:1.
- The Bible says, “Rejoice always” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
- The Bible says to do your “acts of mercy with cheerfulness” – Romans 12:8.
- The Bible says, “Serve the Lord with gladness” – Psalm 100:2. (John Piper)
God wants us happy. It’s our choice to be happy about what He asks of us. We can choose to serve with gladness or not.
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The Kedge Anchor - Anchored in Hope
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul…” Hebrews 6:19
The Kedge Anchor - About
Welcome to the Kedge Anchor. This blog started from a time in my life where I no longer liked changes. Changes, like the waves in the ocean can turn us upside down sometimes and the currents of this life can take us to places we really didn’t intend to go. But changes are a part of life and the older I get the less I like them. Maybe you can relate. Sometimes storms form over the ocean and totally churn up our lives like the ocean floor. And when all is finally over, we feel depleted, drained, exhausted. Turning to God’s word first is always a good place to start and gain footing again. And sometimes God leads us to other sources for encouragement, family, friends, church family, and oddly enough, for me, back to the still calm waters (of the ocean).
Kedging is a nautical term “to draw (a vessel) along by hauling in on the cable of a light anchor that has been dropped at some distance from it, or (of a vessel) to be drawn in this fashion “ https://www.thefreedictionary.com/kedging Kedging is done in calm waters when one needs the boat to move forward or in the case when one is going against the wind. The sailor casts the kedge anchor out in the waters and pulls the boat towards the anchor.
In a season of wait, when we feel like we are at a stand still and perhaps we aren’t hearing God’s voice or when we are in the middle of the storm, we can draw to Him. (James 4:8) We can cast our anchor (of hope) out and take a step in faith toward God, read the Bible, recall a favorite verse, and cling to HIs words. He is our anchor for our soul (Heb. 6:19). When the storms and currents of life are changing our course and we find ourselves going against the wind, we can remain steadfast in His Word and love.
Be encouraged. You are not alone.
“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you…” James 4:8
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