You Can Be Happy, Yes You Can!
Life is tough! Maybe you find it through your complex experiences that it is really hard to be alive at such a time as we have now. In spite of the many advances in science and technology that theoretically would make life easier to live, reality seems to show (if you are watching or reading the news today, what is dubbed as “world news”) that we are heading to more difficult days ahead. Regardless of what is happening around us and what may happen in the future, if we know that God is with us and will never leave us, then, we can be assured that He will take charge of us. The scriptures say, “Cast your cares upon Jesus, for He cares for you.” I heard a preacher commenting on this verse and he emphasized the word “cast.” He said that it is important we understand that when we cast our burdens to the Lord, we are not just putting them down from our wearied shoulders to His feet but we are to throw them to Him and He will catch them and take our burdens away from us!
No, we cannot control the things that are happening but we can control our responses to them. As Stephen R. Covey aptly said in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “What matters most is how we respond to what we experience in life… We are responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say, for most of our circumstances.” So then, if you want to be happy, yes you can!
Life is too short to wallow in negativism. It is a waste of precious hours, days and even years if we let our circumstances steal the possibility of becoming always happy. We are being bombarded everyday with negativism.Words and comments we hear from our peers, family members, co-workers, boss, spouse and even from news reports. But I want to remind you again dear reader that in spite of all the negative things we hear and encounter every single day, it is still possible to live a happy life and be not affected nor infected by them. If you want to be happy, yes you can!
Life is a choice. Choose the right choices then. Choose to be happy at all times! The Bible commanded us to “Rejoice in the Lord always!” and “Be joyful always!” We rejoice not because we don’t have problems or hard times. But we can make a choice to still rejoice in the midst of all those things for the Lord is with us and is above our circumstances. Again for the sake of emphasis, let me say this, if you want to be happy, yes you can! Let me quote one of my favorite authors of our time, Joel Osteen, in his best-selling book Your Best Life Now:
“Happiness is a choice. When you get up in the morning, you can choose to be happy and enjoy that day, or you can choose to be unhappy and go around with a sour attitude. It’s up to you. If you make the mistake of allowing your circumstances to dictate your happiness, then you risk missing out on God’s abundant life… You must learn to live one day at a time. By an act of your will, choose to start enjoying your life right now. Life is too short not to enjoy every single day. Learn to enjoy your family, your friends, your health, your work; enjoy everything in your life. Happiness is a decision you make, not an emotion you feel. Certainly there are times in all of our lives when bad things happen, or things don’t turn out as we had hoped. But that’s when we must make a decision that we’re going to be happy in spite of our circumstances.”
By the way, I would like to give due recognition to Joel Osteen’s book who had been one of God’s instruments in inspiring me to move on in my life and even in helping me enlarge my vision. Our friends from the U.S. gave us a hardbound copy of his first book Your Best Life Now and this quote made a great impact in my life: “God is your source, and His creativity and resources are unlimited! God may give you an idea for an invention, a book, a song, or a movie. God can give you a dream. One idea from God can forever change the course of your life. God is not limited by your education or lack of it. He’s not limited by what you have or what you don’t have. God can do anything, if you believe. He can do anything, if you will simply stop limiting Him in your thinking.”
I did believe, and the result? God gave me an idea to write not just a book but a series of books that give inspirations to people and challenge them that it is possible to be always happy in the Lord. Thank you Joel and more of God’s blessings in your life, family and ministry! All glory I give back to the Lord Jesus Christ – my reason for living and my source of unending happiness! If you want to be happy. Yes, you can too!
Do you really want to live a happy life right now? Start by praying this…
“Dear Lord, I thank you for letting me know You through your Word and through this article. Now I realize that I can indeed live a happy life in You, regardless of what I am going through. Today Lord, I surrender everything to You, my heart and mind, my struggles and pains; my thoughts and feelings, my weaknesses and heartaches; even my hope and dreams.”
“Come into my heart dear Lord and starting today, be the One to guide me in everything that I will do and say. Forgive me for the times that I ignored You and your dealings. Cleanse me from all my wrongdoings and give me a brand new beginning.”
“From now on, I am willing to follow You and Your will upon my life. Whatever circumstances come across my way, help me to learn to look unto You and continue my journey. I desire for Your plans and purposes for me, mold me into becoming the person You want me to be. You’re my joy and my delight. You’re my song in the night. You’re the strength of my heart, and the love of my life.”
“I am making this resolve today, that in whatever situation I would be, I will rejoice in the Lord always! Knowing too that, I can be happy now and everyday. In the name of Christ, this I pray, Amen!”
Lastly, genuine and lasting happiness can only be found in having a personal relationship to the one who gave us life. He’s the source of our joy, not only today and everyday but for all eternity! God bless you and more happy days ahead for you and your loved ones.