In Pursuit of Happiness - Part Three | 07.29.12

Bible says that Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).  Therefore, this tells me that Jesus became proficient in obeying GOD because of the suffering He experienced.  When most of us are suffering, our selfish preoccupation with how unhappy we feel at the moment trumps our commitment to trust and obey GOD.  Trust is born out of belief; and quite frankly, it's hard to obey GOD when we don't trust Him.  

I can't even begin to imagine how GOD feels when our actions indicate our lack of trust in Him.  He wants so much for us to be happy, and He's spared no expense in providing us everything required to live happily ever after; and yet we still choose to lean to our own understanding, fumbling and bumbling our way through life being victimized by the effects of consequences we brought upon ourselves.  No loving Father wants to see His child suffer in that way.  He'd rather us suffer for His name's sake, not for the sake of our fleshly lusts.

Hebrews 5:9 states that following Christ's suffering came perfection.  The suffering GOD allows us to endure plays a vital part in us becoming complete in Him.  And there's no greater happiness than that found in being complete, whole and entire.  To know the satisfaction that only GOD can provide epitomizes happiness.  Life simply doesn't get much happier than being free of cares and totally reliant on the Father, who is the ultimate satisfier.

Read the next installment (In Pursuit of Happiness - Part Four).