I get the impression that some Christians judge whether they are in God's will or not based on how happy they are. If they are happy with a certain number of children, then that must mean they are not supposed to have more. If they are not happy in their marriage, it must mean they are supposed to get out. I do not think it is a good idea to use happiness as a barometer for discerning the will of God in one's life. I also think this type of attitude is a direct result of the "health, wealth, and prosperity gospel" being proclaimed in many churches today. In order to increase attendance and offerings in churches, it is widely preached, "come to Jesus and he will fulfill all your needs." This is really tragic and really not biblical.Recently a Facebook friend of mine posted that she was starting to doubt the existence of God because of all the bad things that were happening in her life. I believe this is a direct result of buying into this type of gospel. If this is the type of "gospel" people are fed then as soon as the storms of life come, their faith will crumble. It is like building your house on sand instead of solid ground (Matt. 7:24-27).
In my last blog entry, I also talked about "cheap grace". Some people do not think obedience is all that important to the Lord because no matter what they do, God will still love them. It is true that God will still love them but obedience is very important to the Lord and the bible is full of examples of that. There are many who want the promises of Christ but without the cross. What they do not realize is that it is only through the cross of Christ that we can have true joy. Joy is different than happiness (I will save that one for a different blog).
The truth is, God does not promise us happiness in this life. I do not even know if it is possible to be completely happy in this life because we were made for heaven. He also does not promise us that we will not become broken. A few years back I had an image come to me of duct tape on a window. Some people put duct tape on their windows when a hurricane is coming so when the window breaks, it will not shatter. I felt like the Lord was telling me that he does not promise that in this life we will not become broken. What he does promise us however is that if we put our trust in him, then when the storms of life come, he will hold us together and our lives will not shatter. Non-believers do not have this promise. When they encounter the storms of life, often their lives fall apart.
Let us put our trust in Christ and trust that no matter what trials come our way, he will see us through.
