Happy Places

Ecclesiastes 9:7 “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.”

One of my happy places takes the form of the local Barnes & Noble. I love it when I get the chance to sit at a little table by the window and pull out my laptop. I eat my multigrain bagel with gladness and drink my latte with a joyful heart. It may sound strange, but I sense God’s approval as I click on the blank Word document and try to write down his thoughts. Maybe it’s somewhat akin to Eric Liddell “feeling God’s pleasure” when he ran. God has always intended for the highest form of his creation to be happy.

Yet happy places can be elusive in a world occupied with a surplus of suspicion, anger and disappointment. Only one third of Americans report being happy. It seems like there has never been so many expecting so much yet receiving so little. And all too often we squander the little joy we do manage to find.

So what are the culprits draining our happiness bucket? Too often we let other people poke holes in our joy. Max Lucado writes in How Happiness Happens, that we’ve got to stop “petting our peeves” if we hope to be happy. Don’t let other people’s quirks, mistakes and insensitivities take center stage in our thinking. Instead, make an intentional decision to patiently bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2). Funny how a little grace dissipates toxic environments and rebounds right back in our court.

It’s also hard to be happy when we don’t see our short span on the earth as a gift from our Creator. When Solomon offered his sage advice to enjoy the little things in life, he was thinking about life’s brevity. “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” (Eccl. 9:4). Although he didn’t have a clear perspective on eternity, he knew the wisdom in making each moment count in everything from relationships (v. 9) to work (v. 10).

So, friend, I hope you discover a happy place, a place where you feel God’s pleasure, a place that lifts you—even temporarily—out of the world’s sorrows. Enjoy God’s gift of life. Don’t waste it.