The Secret to Happiness
Could it possibly be time for Thanksgiving already? Each year is still exactly twelve months long, but it seems like they pass us by faster and faster. Didn’t we just put away that plastic Christmas tree?
Me? I’ll never get tired of the holidays; particularly Thanksgiving. No gifts to worry about. No last-minute cards to mail out. Just get together. Eat. Reflect on the goodness that God has shown each one of us, over the past year. It’s my perfect holiday.
So, how has the Lord blessed you this year? Can you thank Him for your health? Hopefully. Has someone wonderful entered your life? (Child, friend, spouse, coworker, etc.) Can you thank God for that job, in a time when unemployment still hovers at 8 percent? Still can’t think of anything? Then, can you thank Him for peace of mind? For forgiveness? For the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from our old ways and empowers us to become more like Him? It's undeniable that you have the last three, which are free to us all.
But let me tell you something that few think to thank Him for...and herein lies the secret to happiness. Consider what James wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when...” (If you’re not familiar with this verse, what do you suppose James wrote next? Count it all joy when you have health, friendship, or a job?) He continues, “…count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” (James 1:2, emphasis supplied).
To a clinician like me, on the surface, this advice seems counterintuitive. You want your patients to think positively but realistically. But what is this verse stating? Look at three of the words: count, joy and temptations. It’s as if it’s saying even when bad things happen−think of them as good things. Is that realistic? If my patient dies, I’d never say to the family, “Well, it’s best that it happened this way.” Then what is James’ message here?
First, consider his audience. These brethren are “encompassed” (the literal translation of the phrase “fall into”) with temptation. It’s everywhere, impossible to avoid. Then the apostle begins verse three with two powerful words: Knowing this. He’s saying, “Everything around you, is telling you that you’re surrounded by temptation and trials; the Lord is telling you, ‘Know this.’ ” Know what? Know that reality is different from what appearances suggest they are. When trials come our way, we see hardship. That’s what all of our senses tell us. What reality does the Bible tell us? That, the trying of faith, works patience.
There you go! You see temptations all around. If you trust only what you see, you fall. However, as the apostle states, when you see temptations all around (I mean everywhere), “Know this.” “Trust this.” “Remember this.” Don’t trust your senses over the Word. What does the Word state? Know this… that “the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
Put another way, when your faith is tried with temptation all around you, you develop patience. Now patience is no laughing matter. It’s more precious than fine gold (I Pet. 1:7). That’s heavenly currency that will never fade in value. James goes on to say that if you let patience have her perfect work, you’re left “wanting nothing.” Think about it. Isn’t that the definition of happiness? Isn’t that “all joy?” When you want (or lack) nothing? You can have all the money in the world, but if you still lack something, happiness is still not yours. What terrific counsel!
What is the first step to happiness then? Not to look at life like some sort of unrealistic fairy tale. No, that’s not what he’s suggesting. The first key to happiness is to look at things the way God looks at things.
James continues to test out his theory, and uses wisdom as his first example. He just stated that patience, in doing its perfect work, will leave you lacking nothing. Is wisdom something you need? Is it something you’d feel lacking, if without? Solomon seemed to think so. “Wisdom is the principal thing.” (Pr 4:7) It’s the first thing. If you could think of every single thing in the world that you needed to survive, it’d be at the top of your list. If your house were burning down, you’d grab wisdom then you’d grab your family photos. If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island with only three things, you’d pick wisdom as one of them. You get the idea. So if any of you lack wisdom… Well, my friends, I’d say if you’re lacking wisdom, patience has yet to do her perfect work. In fact, patience has hardly begun to work because it’s one of the first things you need. Therefore, I praise God that patience will do its work. I don’t praise just God, for the trials, but also the patience (and subsequent wisdom) they will bring. I praise God, for the wanting of nothing that patience will bring. That is all joy.
Consider verse five again. You can’t miss this final point. The verse says that He gives to all men “liberally.” Would you agree that there is temptation all around us? Would you agree that there are large amounts of temptation around us? Or even liberal amounts? God gives His gifts liberally because the number of battles we face are liberal in number. But His gifts are always more. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.
Think on this wonderful thought then. He’s not there to chide you when you fall. To “upbraid” you, for what you aren’t or don’t have. That’s the wrong picture of God that even much of the Christian world (and any pagan religion) holds; that we serve a God ready to zap the poor soul whenever he or she falls, on his or her face because they lacked wisdom (or any other important characteristic for that matter). No. We serve a God who wants to give us what we lack. Liberally, in fact. Take another moment to consider the promise in that verse, “…it shall be given him.”
Therein lies the second part to the secret to happiness. The first being that we are to interpret things not like the way they appear to us, but as they appear to God. The second is to look at ourselves not as we appear to our own eyes, but as we appear to His eyes.
I thank God, for the many trials He’s granted me the grace to endure this past year. I also thank Him for the times after, when my own faith failed, and He chose not to abandon me, but rather place my feet once again on that solid Rock. I thank Him that He looks at me in a much more loving way, than even my own unforgiving self could dream possible. This, my friends, has been a joyful year for all of us.
Dr. Joe Kim lives with his wife Jacquelyn, and their newborn son Trey, in Hattiesburg, MS. Though both are health professionals, their real passion is outreach: organizing small group Bible studies, giving prophecy lectures, and teaching healthy cooking classes.