@ Etude- Happiness

@ Etude- Happiness

And the Lord God planted a garden(oasis) in the east, in Eden ( delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Genesis 2 v 8


The Lord God delighted or derived pleasure or happiness from what He had planted and whom He had created. Since we are created in His image, we too seek happiness in whatever we do. Genuine pleasure, joy or happiness is therefore, an attitude that each of us should cultivate and enjoy. Happiness does not lie in achieving or becoming some thing but it lies in being with God. The Creator delighted in His creatures, likewise, we need to delight in our Creator and Redeemer. The Father in heaven delighted in His Son Jesus and said, “ My beloved Son, listen to Him. “ He delights in us when we delight in Jesus, listen to His word and delight in it. It should be our chief delight or main source of pleasure, joy, happiness and strength. Yet, Jesus is called the “Man of Sorrow” as He embraced and took upon Himself all the sorrows of mankind so that we be truly happy in Him. We are therefore, not to withhold our sorrows to ourselves but share it with Jesus.

What the Lord with complete wisdom and knowledge delights in – when it becomes our source of joy, it gives us immense strength to confront the daily challenges of life and to overcome these. The Lord delights in our genuine praise and worship. He delights in wisdom and that we value it over the wealth, power and fame of this world. The Lord found delight in the work of His hands and we, too should find pleasure in whatever work we do. In fact, we need to work as if we are to please Him as our ultimate Boss. The Lord delights in creativity, in giving an unique stamp to everything He created.

The Lord delights in the fruit of the Spirit manifest in our lives. He finds pleasure in us when we show patience, love , kindness, humility in our relationships and interactions with our fellow beings. He finds happiness when we exercise faith. He finds happiness when we use all our gifts and talents and attribute the results to Him. He finds happiness in grateful hearts. It does not however, mean that we cannot find pleasure or enjoy good company, good food, good music, good literature, films or anything else. Whenever and wherever we find such joy, we should thank the Lord.