No doubt you’ve heard the above phrase before. Typically it’s used by people to condone a sinful lifestyle. Since they can’t appeal to Scripture to justify their behavior, they appeal to this statement. While it is oft-repeated (which many times seems to give phrases a sound of authority), it is incorrect. While God does offer us joy (Philippians 4:4), and a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7), nowhere does Scripture even hint that God condones activity simply because it makes us happy.
First of all, we understand what makes one happy today may not make one happy tomorrow. Happiness is a subjective, emotional response subject to change. I am reminded of Tigger, when asked by Winnie the Pooh if he liked honey, responded quite enthusiastically, “Tiggers love honey!” It was after tasting it he would, in disgust, say, “Tiggers do not like honey!” with equal enthusiasm. What we think we would enjoy, after experiencing it, may not bring the happiness we thought it would, or desired it to. God has our eternal well-being in mind, and as our Creator, knows best what is good for us, even when we may not. He will not do that which ultimately would harm us, just to gratify our whims. James clearly tells us, “You ask and don’t receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure” (James 4:3).
Also, God would not, for my pleasure or short-term happiness, use another person in a way that is harmful to him or her. If God truly cares for me (1 Peter 5:7), would He do something hurtful to me, to satisfy what makes someone else happy? Paul wrote Timothy, “Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works” (2 Timothy 4:14). Obviously, God did not approve of Alexander’s actions, no matter if Alexander received satisfaction from what he did to Paul. Claiming God wants me to be happy, no matter what that does to others, makes God a respecter of persons, which He is not (Romans 2:11).
In reality, if one’s happiness was the ultimate criteria by which God operates, then our will supersedes the will of the omnipotent, omniscient God. However, this is what one does in making the claim that God wants us to be happy. Many people look for God to allow them to do whatever they please, without any consequences, now or eternally. I remember an individual telling me, as he thought he was closing in on death, that while he had committed adultery, stolen from others, used profane language, and about 10 minutes worth of descriptions of various sins, that he was a good person, that he was okay with God. That was his definition, not God’s. I wonder what he thought he would have to do not to be okay with God? God does have an ethical code for us to live by, revealed in His Word. It’s not what we decide is right or wrong, but what God has decided what is right or wrong. He has defined what sin is and the truth that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23). God will always be true and hold to the truth, not someone else’s subjective opinion (Romans 3:4).
God does offer us His blessings, and He is our source of joy, but these come from living for Him, not for ourselves. Sometimes the way to these may bring pain and suffering in the flesh (John 14:27; 16:33; Hebrews 12:7-8). What we truly live for is not pleasure in the here and now, but eternity in heaven. That calls for faithfulness to God’s revealed will (Revelation 2:10). The fleeting promise of happiness is a delusion of Satan; the promise of eternal life for those who live faithfully is grounded in God Himself. No matter what life throws our way, God’s grace is sufficient for us, too (2 Corinthians 12:9). We may not always be happy, but in Christ we are always blessed. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs…Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:10, 12).
