Happiness – Choose to Be Content with Who You Are and What You Have.

In my reading this week, I came across a quote from Dr. Archibald Hart on success: “You aren’t meant to merely exist and survive—you are meant to thrive… and flourish.”

I don’t yet know which of his books the quote came from. I couldn’t locate the citation, so to the Internet I went! I didn’t find that specific quote, but I found several others on the website www.howtoflourish.com. I want to call your attention to  just a couple of them:
•    “Happiness is a choice. Unhappy people invariably have neglected to make the right choices.”
•    “The happiest people I know are those who have learned to be content with who they are and what they’ve got – even if it is hardly anything.”

In our daily lives the pace and details of living can frequently bog us down. We can struggle financially, mentally, physically, and every other way. We can get caught up in the practice of comparison: “I have this, but they have more. I have this much, but I want more, because if I have “more” then I will be secure and happy…”

“More” is never enough. If we are unhappy with what we have now, we will be unhappy when we have “more.” True happiness comes in our relationship with the Lord and knowing that through Him all we have is sufficient for our needs—not our wants. Being happy is not about what you have. It is not about anything other than making the decision to have faith in what God has granted to you as your share.

However, be aware that the share that God has apportioned to you may not be what you are currently experiencing. Through doubts and decisions we often end up with less than what God would have us claim. Through impatience with God’s timeline and plans, through our own will and short-sightedness, we refuse God’s blessings and the “more” that He would give us.

In the book of Joshua, two and a half tribes of Israel decided to stay on the east side of Jordan rather than crossing into the Promised Land, they settled for what they could see rather than rely on what God would give them in the new land. The known and the comfortable, the certainty they could see, were more important than relying on faith in what God promised to be more.

The dimensions of the Promised Land are estimated to be 8,019 square miles based on the boundaries described in the book of Joshua. Wow! Would that be “enough” for the Israelites? Well, it may surprise you to know that many sources indicate that they ultimately claimed only 10 percent of the land promised. If the Israelites settled for less, how short are we falling when we settle for what we can get under our own efforts versus relying on God’s timing, provision, and plans for us?

 

Author:  Lea A. Strickland, MBA CMA CFM CBM GMC
Copyright ©2012 Lea A. Strickland
All Rights Reserved

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