Do More of What Makes You...

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." -Ecclesiastes 7:14

This verse has been on my mind a lot recently. I personally believe that happiness is a manifestation of our circumstances and how we handle them. Romans 8:28 says, "we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose." It is in this verse that we find that all things, both good and bad, are precious moments of life given to us from our Creator. We live a life that is not our own and every moment we borrow is one we will never get back once it has passed. Undoubtedly, we will have days that just suck. Where nothing goes right and it seems like you are taking on the whole world alone. It is in these moments that I believe that the presence of our Creator is undeniable. He gives us hard times to strengthen our faith and so that we know the good times when we see them. And even in the darkest of days, there is a possibility of the creation of a small ray of sunshine in every situation.  It is in these moments that we must seize happiness in whatever way, shape, or form it may manifest itself as. 

Unfortunately, I just wrote this whole paragraph on happiness and now I am going to shoot it to the ground in a sense.  The truth of the matter is that happiness is not our ultimate goal in life. I read a post on pinterest recently that summed up all of this...It had originally said "Do more of what makes you happy," but happy was scratched out and overwritten with "holy." Do more of what makes you holy. It is not about our happiness. No matter what, happiness will come and go, but joy, righteousness, and holiness should be ever present in our lives through the Holy Spirit. 


I challenge you to live a life of holiness. If you can manage that, I think the happiness will undoubtedly follow. 


Holiness>Happiness