What is happiness? and is it the cure for sadness and depression?
Interestingly enough I was also recently in a conversation about being happy... in the context of being a Christian. What was happiness? How are we to obtain it as Christians? Is it even in the Bible?
Well, after taking a little look into this question on my own I learned some things...
The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for happy is esher.
The Greek word in the New Testament is makarios.
Both of these words are translated to mean..... “blessed.”
Well blessed is used a great deal in the Bible! There's a Biblical word we can work with! Lets go to the Beatitudes.........
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the [d]gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Before we just jump in and replace the Beatitudes with the word 'Happy'..Let's look at it's definition
hap·py
ˈhapē/
adjective
- 1.feeling or showing pleasure or contentment."Melissa came in looking happy and excited"
- 2.fortunate and convenient."he had the happy knack of making people like him"
synonyms: fortunate, lucky, favorable, advantageous, opportune, timely, well timed, convenient
"a happy coincidence"
We see that descriptions like cheerful, joyful, pleased and content are the definition of being happy.
So our understanding at this point might be to say that Happy and blessed are synonymous. Are they? Lets look at the definition for blessed...
bless·ed
blest,ˈblesid/
adjective
- 1.made holy; consecrated.
- 2.those who live with God in heaven.
So can we, in making this comparison, substitute Happy for Blessed in the Beatitudes? We might be able to make ourselves happy {as short lived as that may be}..but we can't bless ourselves. I believe only God has the power to make something or someone holy; consecrated. So.....I'm not sure you can just swap those two words without understanding the difference.
4 “Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Happy are the [d]gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Happy are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Happy are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Is being happy the same as being 'consecrated' ?
(Consecrated-To make or declare something sacred)
Am I sacred simply because I am happy?
I think what makes being blessed sacred is when despite circumstances, our faith in God keeps us 'lighthearted, content and joyful' regardless of what is going on around us. It's our trust in God. He will bring us through it. He will bring us blessings. We will be blessed through His strength. He consecrates our not so great circumstances and brings us joy despite them! Our circumstances no longer control how we feel.
2 Cor 13:9-10 For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete.
I think what this means for us as Christians is that we should stop our quest to simply be happy. We are to be faithful. To have hope. To trust and surrender to an all powerful and loving God, that wants to give us peace and hope. To surrender our burdens to Him.
Paul tells the Corinthians that he has a “treasure” even in the midst of his difficult life. That treasure is available to us also and includes happiness.
2 Cor 4:7-10 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
So what does this mean for those who are dealing with depression?
de·pres·sion
diˈpreSHən/
noun
- 1.severe despondency and dejection, typically felt over a period of time and accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy. Lack of hope.
Lack of hope.
When we feel unhappy this society leads us to believe we are doing something wrong and that WE have to fix it...... then offers us a million Earthly ways to fix it. To make us right. It becomes all about us. Our quest to achieve this allusive thing we call happiness. To fix all that is going wrong. To battle alone against circumstances and situations that we have no power over.
I can't help but wonder if perhaps that empty feeling in us that can at times pull us down low, is in fact a prompt of sorts. Reminding us that we are not meant to live this life alone. We weren't created to navigate these waters without a guide, or to battle the circumstances and situations by ourselves. That the feelings of sadness and being 'lost' are the promptings to seek God. To ask him to help us. To surrender not to our problems...but to HIM.
Perhaps also a reminder to lift our head and look beyond. Beyond us. Beyond our situations. Beyond our circumstances. To reach out and focus outside of ourselves, to others. To be who God created us to be. To put our burdens down and help someone with theirs. To realize we must surrender this quest for happiness and instead reach for the HOPE and PEACE in Christ. In God. To rejoice in that truth.
Phil 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice ! 5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So are we to be happy? Blessed? Consecrated? I think the only way to be grounded in those things is through Christ. He is the only one that despite our circumstances can bring us joy. He is the only one that in the midst of the storm can calm our hearts. He is the only constant in a world of uncertainty. If we seek Him and allow Him to work through us. our lives will change.
What is happiness? It's something to seek through Gods will, not our own will. It's a word that through time has been derived from a much more powerful word..Blessing. Seeking either one of these things is secondary to our main quest. To seek and find a relationship with God, so that He will bless us and bring us hope. In that hope we can rise above the things that bring us down in this world. In that hope we can overcome and find a peace regardless of our circumstances. A happiness that only God can give.
Patti
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