I. You are alive today! The fact that you’re here and reading this blog. Congratulations! You made it today, others didn’t. The Bible said, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” So, be happy and thank God for this wonderful day. And because you are alive, kindly read aloud reason number 2 and make it personal.
II. You are important! I’m not trying to flatter you or to just make you feel good by this statement. Regardless of whatever is happening in your life today and despite the things you’ve done wrong yesterday; whether people accept you or not, still I believe there is at least one or a few people in your life who consider you as an important part of their lives. True? So, be happy about that and them. Why not let them know how grateful you are now?
III. You have unique talents and abilities! No one in the world exists exactly like you. None before and none after you. God said in Psalms that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are gifted, talented and you have what it takes to succeed. You were born for a purpose – God’s purpose for you. You have unique talents, skills and abilities that only you can do. Discover them, harness and develop them, and use them to serve God and mankind. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” And in 2 Timothy 1:6 it says, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…”
IV. You have hope! It’s been said that as long as we live there is hope. Bad things can turn to good, worst can become best as long as we don’t give up and have hope in our hearts. If you have problems, do you hope for solutions? If you are sick, do you hope to get well? If you have financial needs, do you hope for God’s provision? If you do, then hold on to it and be happy today. Things might change for the better in a moment or in a day. In Jesus, we not only have hope but a blessed hope! Titus 2:11 & 13 say, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people…while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
V. You have opportunities! We’re living in an age of abundant opportunities. Either you believe it or not and either you realize it or not, opportunities abound. These are exciting days to be alive. Advancement in technology and the dawn of the Information Age make opportunities in work, learning, business and travel flourish. We can work online or offline, or both. We can connect locally and globally as we market our skills, talents and products. Open your eyes and plunge ahead. Though you may experience setbacks in you career or failure in your investments, don’t stop nor give up, opportunities still overflow in our days. Have a positive attitude, a cheerful heart and be ready for your next opportunity!
VI. You have ideas! You have a mind to think and an imagination to use. The most powerful computer of all is between your two ears. God created us to have minds that we can tap to create, invent, think and become what He created us to be. Don’t limit what you can do by limiting what you ‘think’ you can do! If you don’t have enough money or resources today, don’t be dismayed. Don’t worry, be happy and pray – ask God for ideas. The Bible said, “It is God who gives us the abilities (ideas, skills, capabilities) to produce wealth!” The international best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad book Robert Kiyosaki said, “Money is only an idea.” Therefore, because you have lots and tons of ideas, be happy, later or sooner you can turn some of them into money! By the way, don’t forget me, it is I who reminded you this.
VII. You have family and friends! How many friends do you have on Facebook? How many followers do you have on Twitter? How many names are in your email accounts and mobile phone inboxes? How many’ likes’ and ‘share’ do you get when you post something on social networks? More than these, how many people are in your circle of family and friends? If not all , still you have quite a number of them to whom you can really connect yourself and be yourself. Be happy with all those precious relationships God has given you. Treasure them. Love them. And be happy that you have them. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”
VIII. You have a work and can work! I assume that in one way or another you have a work, are working or being productive with your time, talents and treasures. If you are jobless today it doesn’t mean that it is permanent and you cannot work anymore. Maybe the Lord wants you to rest and wait for a better job. Meanwhile, you can still do something worthwhile and become productive. But for those of us who have work and are working, thank God for He created us to work – not only for us to earn an income, but to work for the betterment of others and our society as a whole. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men. Simply said – be happy with your work.
IX. You have faith! Yes you do have problems, hardships, challenges, setbacks…but you also have faith. And faith is all you need to overcome all those obstacles before you. Faith in Someone greater than us makes us secure and steadfast as we face life’s uncertainties. Knowing and believing that God has ‘got the whole world in His hands’, makes us courageous and confident that whatever happens to this world we’re living in, we cannot be shaken, we can stand strong and expect that in all things God works for the good of those who loved Him!
X. You have God! The great apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” He suffered tremendously as he followed the will of the Lord in his life. He even ended in prison and was beheaded! Now, in spite the great suffering this man of God suffered, take a look and meditate on his writings and resolve in Philippians 4:4 -7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s secret of rejoicing in the midst of suffering is the LORD! He said twice in the above verses that we must rejoice in the Lord, regardless of our present circumstances. Like Paul, I do believe you can make this resolve too, because you also have the Lord God in your heart, do you?
I can write more reasons or even 1001 reasons for us to be happy, but I guess these are enough for today. I hope I inspired you. What if you might say that you don’t have all these 10 reasons, can you still be happy? Of course! Let say you only have 7 or 5 or 3? Even if you only have one reason left out of this 10 in my list, you can still be happy today. For happiness is a choice we make, not the situations we face and not the emotions we feel at the moment. Have a happy day!