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God’s Prescription For Happy Living

I have never met a person who has said, “I don’t want to be happy. I just want to be miserable all the time.” Yet, it is all too obvious that real happiness is missing in the lives of most people. It’s like an elusive butterfly. They know it’s there but they simply cannot take hold of it. They want to possess happiness but it continually eludes their grasp.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter that we who are Christians know as the book of Philippians. It has been appropriately called, “The Epistle of Joy.” In the fourth chapter of his letter, Paul enumerated the key ingredients that make up what I call God’s Prescription For Happy Living. God wants all of His children to be happy and through Paul, He reveals how happiness can be realized.

Key Ingredient # 1 in God’s Prescription For Happy Living is this: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4 NKJV).

Now there may be things going on in your life that you simply can’t rejoice over right now. Perhaps, you are enduring an affliction or maybe you are having to deal with some other problem—and it’s a big one. Let’s never forget that God didn’t promise us a rose garden. In fact, Jesus said to His first disciples and to all of us who know Him as Lord and Savior: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33 NKJV). Notice how emphatic the Lord was. He didn’t say, “You might have tribulation.” Jesus said in effect: “Those who choose to live as My disciples will endure tribulation. But never forget the fact that I have overcome the world.” The implication is clear. Jesus wanted His disciples to know that through Him they would also be overcomers.

One thing we can always do no matter what is taking place in our lives is to rejoice in the Lord and to keep on rejoicing in Him. We can continually rejoice in who He is and what He means to our lives. And when we do that, we are going to banish doom and gloom and happiness is going to burst forth on the scene.

Key Ingredient # 2 is this: “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5NKJV).

Who do you think is the happier person? Someone who’s in a constant dither ready to explode at any moment? Or is it the individual who is gentle, the person who rolls with the punches and is not always in a standby attack mode ready to strike out at someone else? The answer is obvious. Gentle people just get along better in life than their overwrought counterparts.

When Paul wrote, “The Lord is at hand,” I believe he wanted us to understand two facts. In the first place, the Lord sees how we Christians act. He knows when we are gentle and He knows when we are not. When we are not Christlike, we grieve the Holy Spirit and that stifles the flow of His power in our lives. And without the power of the Holy Spirit, we cannot minister effectively. Then again, there is a very positive fact that we need to understand by the words, “The Lord is at hand.” The Lord never requires us to do what He does not enable us to do. He is at hand in our lives to produce gentleness within us through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Key Ingredient # 3 in God’s Prescription For Happy Living is found in verses 6 & 7. Paul said it this way: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding , will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ” (NKJV).

Too often, it is worry that destroys happiness in the lives of Christians. As has been well said, “Worry doesn’t take the trouble out of tomorrow, it steals the happiness from today.” What the Lord wants all of us to realize is that if something is big enough to worry about, it’s big enough to pray about. When we are up against some seemingly impossible obstacle that is robbing us of joy and happiness, we are to move immediately into the arena of prayer. With thanksgiving in our hearts, we are to declare: “Lord, I praise You that You will never leave me or forsake me. I refuse to allow unbelief to reside in my heart. I stand on the truth that with God nothing is impossible. I cast off worry and I put on trust. I believe Your promise that says to me that I am always triumphant in Christ.”

When we Christians stand strong in prayer and reject worry, the Lord promises to throw up a garrison of His peace around our lives. And where there is peace, there will be happiness!

Key Ingredient #4 is found in Philippians 4:8. Paul said it this way: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (NKJV). The Amplified translation says, “…if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things—fix your minds on them.”

The mind is the battlefield where happiness is too often lost. Someone said, “We literally become what we think about.” The Bible tells us in the book of Proverbs that what dominates a person’s thought life is what that person becomes (Prov. 23:7). For example, the person who thinks negative thoughts will become negative, sullen, and gloomy. Likewise, an individual who thinks defeated thoughts will see defeat become a reality.

On the other hand, if we who are Christians will fix our minds on the Lord, on His blessings, and on the good things in life rather than on the ungodly things that surround us, happiness is going to be the inevitable result.

In reality, life is all about choices. All of us are continually involved in making choices—choices that often have a major impact on our lives. When I talk to people about repenting and receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior, I often say to them that they have the right to accept Him or to reject Him. But I am quick to remind them that they are going to live forever or perish eternally on the basis of the choice they make.

If you are a Christian, make the right choice. Don’t just be a hearer of the Word, be a doer of the Word. Get in on God’s Prescription For Happy Living.

Here For You In Christ,
Dr. R. L. Calhoun, Pastor