Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 3

We have been discussing the unhappiness we see in our country today. It's been my observation that this unhappiness can be attributed to three things. The circumstances we face, the people we encounter and the problems we worry about. In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul addresses these three areas by giving us three principles to follow. 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle 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, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Principle #1 - Greet Every Situation with Rejoicing - v.4 

You can read part 1 here.

Principle #2 - Treat Every Person with Gentleness - v.5

You can read part 2 here.

Principle #3 - Meet Every Problem with Prayer - v.6-7 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

In 1988 a song by Bobby McFerrin hit the charts and quickly raced to number one. That year it won three Grammy awards. The song was not a song of intellectual depth, in fact, one phrase was repeated over 20 times, but somehow it struck a chord with the public.

The song was titled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Why did this little diddy take the country by storm? Because worry and anxiety are part and parcel of today’s human existence. Worry reigns over more human beings than any king who ever ruled.

Everyone is looking for answers to help overcome anxiety, worry and depression – people want to stop worrying and be happy! Paul says however, “be anxious for nothing.”

The word “anxious” means to be pulled in different directions, to have divided energies, to have a divided mind. Our English word “worry” comes form an old English word meaning to strangle. When worry takes over our lives our minds become divided between legitimate thoughts and destructive thoughts. This battle strangles out right thinking. We are pulled in different directions and consequently worry chokes out the truths we have been taught.

When right thinking becomes distorted and the Word becomes squeezed out it causes us to abandon our trust in the Lord who tells us to cast all of our cares upon Him (I Peter 5:7).

This is what worry does to us.

Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 2

In my prior post (Part 1), I mentioned that we seem to be grumpier and less happy in our society today. It is no doubt a reflection of the times in which we live. Life is difficult on so many levels and it seems as though each day brings a new struggle. Yet, despite the every day hardships we face, we don't have to let them control us. In fact, the Bible gives us some principles to follow to help us to overcome the tendency to let our circumstances, the people in our lives and our problems make us unhappy. These principles are found in Philippians 4:4-7.

⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle 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, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Previously, we looked at the first Principle, which teaches us how to deal with our circumstances.

Principle #1 - Greet Every Situation with Rejoicing - v.4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice

We must understand that what God wants for us in this life is not happiness, but joy. We can experience joy (a settled satisfaction and contentment that comes from our relationship with Him) when we realize what it means to rejoice "in the Lord." To rejoice in the Lord does not mean that we ignore our responsibilities. Neither does it mean that we evade obvious issues. Rather, it means we are to be fully cognizant of the situation we are in, fully prepared to deal with it responsibly, and fully convinced of the power of the Lord to give us wisdom, grace and courage to deal with whatever comes along. When we adopt this attitude it will not produce a giddy irresponsibility or a naive ecstasy, but a deep, mature, responsible faith that rests on God's sovereign goodness.

Sometimes though, it isn't so much the the situations that make our life difficult, but the people in it! That leads us to our second principle.

Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 1

There seems to be a lot of grumpiness going around in our country today, not without good reason. The circumstances we find ourselves in is less than hopeful for most. In fact, if I could use one word to describe the mood of the country I think it would be "unhappy." It is my sense than many are just weary from the political and economic realities of the day.

I am reminded of a story I once read about a young man who went to a renowned doctor in Paris complaining of depression and wanting to know what he could do to get better. The doctor immediately thought of a well-known leader in the café society of Paris named Grimaldi. Grimaldi cut a wide and light-hearted swath through Paris night life and the doctor thought this is what the young man needed.

The doctor told the young man, “Introduce yourself to Grimaldi. Let him show you how to enjoy yourself and you will get well.”

The young man sat up with a sad smile and said, “but doctor, I am Grimaldi!”

No one ever promised us that life would be easy. Sometimes things happen that make life difficult to bear. At other times, you think you have everything going your way when something unexpected comes along and throws a monkey wrench into your life. Whether our difficulties are ongoing or catch us by surpise, it has been my experience that the burden created by those difficulties comes from one of three areas. The people we meet, the situations we encounter or the problems we face.

Maybe today you are struggling to cope with some situation, some person or some problem in your life (and we all will at some point in our lives).

If so, then listen to what the Bible has to say to us.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle 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, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.

(Phillipians 4:4-7)