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I Want to be Happy
Job 1:8-11 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
The book of Job starts with a bizarre interaction in heaven. God brags on a “blameless and upright man” to Satan, who clearly doesn't like this man. We will ignore such questions as, ‘What is Satan doing in heaven?’, and examine Satan's reply, “Does Job fear God for no reason?” In particular, I will address a particular paragraph from my recent book, Job's White Funeral:
“The argument is that Job is only doing what he has to do to get the stuff that makes him happy. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll be gone in a flash. Behaviorist psychologist Edward O. Wilson claims that Mother Teresa served ‘selflessly,’ because she believed in an eternal reward. Thus, this psychologist claims that Teresa was in fact self-serving after all. Moral philosopher John E. Hare suggests that Aristotle ‘is committed to the view that everything we do is for the sake of our own happiness (even if we do not represent this to ourselves). Aquinas inherits this view…’ All motivations eventually resolve to our own happiness according to this argument. Take away the protection, his happiness, suggests Satan, ‘and he [Job] will surely curse You to Your face’ (Job 1:11)” (Wells, Job's White Funeral, p.62).
I am not here to talk about Job or the book of Job, I am here to talk about the quest for happiness. The argument that Satan is advancing it that all people are ultimately motivated by their own selfish desires: we all want to be happy above all else. It does appear that some people are so motivated. But, to suggest that Mother Theresa was motivated by self-interest does seem to defy credibility. But, here is a quote from the popular modern spiritualist, Shirley MacLaine:
“If I fed a starving child, and was honest about my motivation, I would have to say I did it for myself, because it made me feel better” (Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture, 232).
In one sense, MacLaine has an argument, but the question at the heart of our quest is about means and methods. I do want to be happy, but if I make happiness my goal, will I ever achieve lasting happiness?
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Plato's The Republic addresses this same argument. The book contains a dialogue between Socrates and a group of Athenian's, chiefly Plato's two older brothers, one of whom is Glaucon, who begins a discussion on morality by suggesting that all people want happiness. Justice or morals represent the compromises we must make in not taking advantage of others to obtain greater happiness, in order that they will not take advantage of us, thus limiting our happiness. This is the heart of the “social contract” of later thinkers. He illustrates this thought with the story of the “ring of Gyges.” A farmer by the name of Gyges finds a magic ring in his field. When he puts it on he becomes invisible. He realizes that all constraints are off. He goes to the palace, kills the king, rapes the queen and seizes the kingdom. Glaucon assumes that, at its heart, this is the reality of all people. Socrates protests. He suggests that acting in a just or moral way is its own happiness. A Just man would never act as Glaucon suggests.
This dialogue proceeds from an earlier discussion in which Socrates argues that a proper politician (or king), like any good technician, is interested in a well run machine, in this case government. The opposing disputants argue, no, the politician wants to run things for their own benefit. Socrates argues, does a doctor who sees another doctor attending a patient push that doctor aside if he sees that the patient is being properly cared for. So too, if the governors are running the government well, a politician who understands his craft has no reason to intervene. Of course, we have often seen politicians who seem to believe that the craft of politics is for personal enrichment; hence, inserting themselves into a position of power is important to them, regardless of the competence of those they replace.
In the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien extends this ring analogy. In this case, the ring of invisibility exerts a magnetic pull towards the darkness every time it is used. The Hobbit Sméagol, having found such a ring, is corrupted by this dark power, thus becoming the dark subterranean figure Gollum. It seems that Sméagol, by attempting to achieve happiness, found himself increasingly using the whispered suggestions of “the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy,” (John 10:10) only to become miserable. Those who follow Christ, Jesus tells us, will obtain the “abundant life”, that is, happiness. That path, it should be noted, is often fraught with pain, perplexity and persecution.
Psalm 118:5-6 Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
It seems that there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who want their own personal happiness. And there are those who are searching for something greater. Truth be told, I think we are all a little of both. In my work on Job, I ran across a book that I read many years ago and had largely forgotten about, Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl survived Auschwitz and Dachau, so the first part of the book covers his observations of people, himself included, under the extreme stress of the infamous death camps.
“Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain (they were often of a delicate constitution), but the damage to their inner lives was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedoms. Only in this way can one explain the apparent paradox that some prisoners of a less hardy make-up often seemed to survive camp life better than those of a robust nature.” (Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. 36).
“One could make a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge and simply vegetate, as did the majority of prisoners” (Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. 72).
Frankl's own moment of triumph over his circumstances came on a cold afternoon as he knelt to pray a familiar prayer that welled up in him,
“‘I called to the Lord from my narrow prison and He answered me in the freedom of space.’ How long I knelt there and repeated this sentence memory can no longer recall. But I know that on that day, in that hour, my new life started” (Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. 89).
He is remembering Psalm 118, verse 5, literally: “From the straitness I called Jah, Jah answered me in a broad place” (Ps. 118:5, YLT). Like Jonah's prayer from the belly of the whale, Frankl received an answer, in his case, in the form of inner strength. The therapeutic approach he formulated after his liberation, known as Logotherapy, is to help a person find the personal meaning of his or her own life.
“The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself. What is called self-actualization is not an attainable aim at all, for the simple reason that the more one would strive for it, the more he would miss it. In other words, self actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence” (Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. 110-111).
“Pleasure is, and must remain, a side-effect or by-product, and is destroyed and spoiled to the degree to which it is made a goal in itself” (Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. 122).
Notice that Frankl does not suggest that when he prayed he received a specific direction for his life. What he saw, seems to have been more on the order of a light in the darkness and a reason to live. Is this not the Biblical message in a nutshell?
Luke 11:2, MKJV And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in Heaven, so also on the earth.’”
I had a dream in which I prayed for man who had cancer. He was healed as he discovered later. He then brought me a card thanking me, and I read it quickly and began to thank him, when suddenly I realized that he was saying, his medical costs would have been $100,000, and he wanted to give me 10%, or $10,000 as a thank you. I immediately said, in all Christian humility, “absolutely not!” As I awoke, I had the sense that this response was weak. Let me explain.
We live in a world in which God's glory is manifest with every breath we take, in every plant or animal, in every tree. We live in God's glorious world, whether we live in sickness or in health, whether we live in poverty or in wealth, even if we are wasting away in a Nazi or a Communist death camp. To say, “Oh, it wasn't me, it was God;” seems to leave the focus on my humble demurring, when the answer should be, “Don't you see, God's glory has manifested itself in a radical way—your healing!” Healing cancer is not something that I could possibly do in my wildest of dreams!
I just recently finished reading Albert Mohler's book on the Lord's prayer The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down. He points out that Jesus begins, “Father, hallowed be your name” (Luke 11:2).
“By asking that the name of God be ‘hallowed,’ Jesus is asking God to so move and act in the world that people value his glory, esteem his holiness, and treasure his character above all else. We must not miss this: Jesus's first request is not that his personal needs be met, but that God's glory and holiness be known and loved as it deserves. What a remarkably God-centered prayer” (Mohler, The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down. 64).
Mohler's comments seemed to energize my prayers. I want to see God's unmistakable glory. Unfortunately, we live in a world surrounded by God's glory, but we take it for granted, to the point that many think there is no God, or that's just the way He works. It's glorious! Our jaded complacency means that God can move, but we are moving on as if that's my normal. God's glory is real, and we want more of it. The last thing we want to do is to explain away the miracle, or to move on with our lives, we need to shout, “Hallowed be His Name! What can I do to stay close to Your glory?”
Song of Songs 8:5-6 Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.
I recently downloaded an album by worship leader Leonard Jones, “Apple Tree Revival.” Leonard Jones plays soaking music, while sitting with Bob Jones, (no relation), shortly before Bob Jones passing. Bob Jones is prophesying over Leonard, and relates a prophetic vision of an apple tree in full bloom. His interpretation is that there would soon be a world-wide outbreak of unprecedented revival that would be ushered in by praise. He emphasizes over and over, that the key is not preaching, or good theology, or even good music; the key will be a spirit of praise.
Obviously, he is not speaking of praising ourselves, but praising the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Our attention, our admiration, is pointing away from ourselves, our wants and needs, our enlargement, to God's enlargement. I picture stepping into the dark of the Tabernacle to light the Menorah. The light begins to glitter off of the hammered gold. As our thoughts turn to God, He reveals Himself as our loving Father.
“The praise is to reveal the Father… so that we can cohabitate with the Father in the Spirit” (Bob Jones, Apple Tree Revival, 2014).
Bob Jones goes on to wonder if the Church is ready for what the Father wants to release at this time. The one place that draws the churches into unity is in praise of the Father. Praise of God opens doors normally shut to Christians.
“You've got to come to your end, so that you can begin. You can't begin until you come to your end. A lot of people like you [Leonard Jones], come to their end—now let's hear it—what He wants to begin, and that's just what you'll do… It'll be praise and prophecy together” (Bob Jones, Apple Tree Revival, 2014).
The more that we stay stuck in our own small world, the longer we delay the healing touch of God. You are the apple of God's eye (Deut. 32:10). As Apostle Dario Parish noted on his last visit, our faith is not meant to be a faith in what God can do for me, but faith in God as He is. The glory is revealed when we praise God without any attachments added to it.
“I keep thinking about when I looked to the Lord in death and the only thing He spoke to me, and He'll ever speak to me, and to you, when you leave this life, is, ‘Did you learn to love’? I think the first thing we've got to learn to love is the Father. And I think we're going to see some of the praise really reveal the Father… Blaze that trail, so that others can see how to follow, and so be in praise. Something that will free our minds and rake us into true worship of the Father” (Bob Jones, Apple Tree Revival, 2014).
Leonard Jones is a professional musician. But, if I am understanding Bob Jones correctly, he is not suggesting that professional quality is required. What is required is a heart that loves the Father without placing any demand upon Him. That heart will flow purely and freely. Leave your troubles at the door. Come and worship the Lord.
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
2 Corinthians 4:11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
1 Peter 2:24-25 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Death seems to be a constant New Testament theme. First, Jesus came to this world facing death from the moment of his birth. Rather than hide from this, his destiny, he embraced it. After his death and resurrection, his followers faced persecution and martyrdom on a daily basis. But, the notion of death goes beyond that. When a person joins themself to Christ, they resolve to live for Christ, and thus selflessly. This is represented by baptism; an entering into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The flesh longs for personal happiness, but spends a lifetime chasing fleeting moments of pleasure. The spirit longs for communion with the Father. As Frankl noted, “The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.” A lasting source of joy and happiness is found in forgetting oneself, and giving oneself to the fountain of life, God the Father. This is the basis of the idea of being buried with Christ, to rise with Christ.
When the Apostle Paul states that he and his ministry team are “always being given over to death,” he means that they are in constant danger of death. You should recall that at one point Paul lists all of the dangers and torments that he has endured. In the end, Paul will give his life for the cause of Christ. He never sees this as sacrifice, for he is receiving the life of Christ with every blow. In Christ, there is no death.
1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
In Christ, there is the constant presence of “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). Someone asked me about the fact that I live alone, this was before my son moved in, and I replied honestly, “I am never alone.” I never feel alone. To feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, is but a slight turn of my thoughts. I believe this is what it means to pray constantly. Allow the mind to drift Godward always.
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.