On the subject of Happiness
Dear friends,
I am a home maker. I was conditioned to cook by having a husband who is foreign to the local cuisine. He personally never asked me to cook for him, but his misery at eating a "mutant" chinese food in this country has compelled me to learn to re-create his home taste in our own kitchen.
After some time, I managed to start cooking things "resembling" what he used to have in his home country. Then pride sets in. Do you remember what the Bible said? That pride always come before the fall? Well, that's exactly what happened to me.
I prided myself to be able to cook many things. However, I found that my husband's complain has increased. I was resentful to him. I assumed that he was condescending and ungrateful.
When I was proud, I cook the way "I like it". But God reminded me this: "my husband doesn't like it that way". If you think I accepted God's word easily, well, you are wrong. Until one day, I gave in to His holy nudging, and follow Him to cook the way my husband like it.
Needless to say, God is always right. I now find that cooking the way my husband like it, is far more rewarding than cooking the way I like it. Seeing him happy has become my own happiness. And suddenly, the price I paid, seems insignificant.
I relate this feeling to how God's must have feel when He paid the price for our sin on the cross. And how upon seeing our happiness now, He know that his suffering has worth it all. The question now is, are we happy yet? Because His death and suffering on the cross meant that we are now liberated to be happy.
What if we know all that and we are still unhappy of our live? May I suggest that we all do something for other people? To die in our self to give happiness to others? In this way you will be sowing happiness, and the Bible said : you shall reap what you sow, thus, you shall be happy too, at the end.
I believe this paradigm applies in our spiritual life. While we die daily to our sinful nature, we are giving happiness to our soul. So first you will "feel" - because you cannot "see" it, obviously -the happiness in your soul, that the sacrifice you made won't feel hard anymore. Secondly, you are sowing happiness, thus, you shall receive happiness. Thirdly, you are safe keeping for heavenly treasures which also translate as the "true" happily ever after.
Why don't we all be the "Cinderella" who cooks and scrubs and cleans and yet goes home to a palace and live with the Prince of Peace who is more than charming? And thus ended our quest for happiness.
After all, He has chose us among all the fairest maiden in the land :)
