"I'LL BE HAPPY WHEN..."

"I'll be happy when..."

Have you ever caught yourself thinking this?

You know the thoughts, "I'll be happy when I've got $100,000.00 in the bank," or "I'll be happy when I'm older," or "I'll be happy when I've lost another 8 kilograms," the list goes on how often do we make our happiness contingent on when or if something happens??

Why cant we just be happy now??

What got me thinking about this was the roadworks on my way to work one morning. I had to slow down while driving through a road works zone and I thought to myself, "I'll be happy when they get these roadworks finished so I don't have to slow down through here." And then with that thought barely out, I began to think; "...and I'll be happy when they finish doing the roadworks on the freeway down to Melbourne and on the road down to Geelong."

It was as the list of "I'll be happy when...s" started to pile up that I realised that I was was making my happiness dependant on circumstances, like the construction of a road!!!

At this point God challenged me on why I could only be happy when all of this stuff was done, and why couldn't I be happy here and now??

As I began to process this thought I tried to bock all of the "I'll be happy when..." thoughts out of my mind. I realised then, and maybe it's just me, but when I had my attention drawn to it, that the "I'll be happy when..." thoughts were a fairly common theme in so much stuff around me.

It seems where we live in a society where we are being constantly told that we need this product or that thing to be truly happy. But, then when we get whatever it is that we are told we must have to be happy, we are then told that we now need something else to go with it to be truly happy. This process never seems to end, every time we seem to get near the goal posts, they get moved again.

So how can I be happy before...???

As I struggled with this question i realised that there is much to be happy about. For a start, I'm alive and well, which is more than some people can say. Secondly, I have friends and family who live, care and appreciate me.

But as I thought about this I thought of those who weren't alive and well.

The ones who weren't alive, depending on where they go after death, either have everything or nothing at all to complain about; and those who aren't well may not be able to find joy in their state of health all that easy. And I thought of those people out there who feel alone and isolated without friends and family around them.

So, is there a way to be happy without depending on someone or something??

As I thought this through, I realised that no, there was no way for joy or happiness to be achieve without dependence on someone or something. There is temporary joy when we depend on things for happiness, there is temporary joy when we depend on other people for our happiness, BUT, when we depend on God we can experience a joy that surpasses all understanding.

We can experience joy in our relationship with God even when we are unhappy because we know Him. What else do we need other than to know that God loves us and cares both about and for us? i can feel my levels of joy rising within me even as i write this blog as I remember this once again!!!

God says to us: "Don't worry, be happy, I love you."

So I guess my challenge to you this week is to try and avoid those "I'll be happy when..." thoughts and try to seek joy in the everyday, knowing that God loves you.

And if you haven't experienced that love maybe you should try talking with Him...