my sharing

A lot of times we determine our emotions depending on the good and bad circumstances in our life. And due to that, we chase after little personal goals in hope that it might improve our situation. When we fail to get what we want we will naturally feel down about it, and at times when circumstances don’t turn out the way we wanted, we tend to look at \the negatives and complain about it. Has anyone ever shared this experience with me?

Ecclesiastes 5:19,20
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work- this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

This was what came to my mind last Sunday (yes, when I was caught flipping my bible).

When Ps JF talked about being low in confidence, I thought it was so true that more often than not, we look for happiness through temporary and superficial means be it better grades, praises from others, better things… and although we try our very hardest, sometimes we may or may not succeed and our emotions will then sway according to it. More often than not we pray for ‘things’ or for ‘better situations’ because we think that that is good for us.

From reading the book of Ecclesiastes, I’ve come to realise that happiness is actually truly from God. We can have the best grades, the best things and the best income and still not be happy. Why? Because it is God who allows us to be happy with what we have. Wealth and possessions are from Him but so is happiness. This is His gift to us.

I also thought then about the things we cannot change and the ‘bad’ situation that we are already in (eg. if we ALREADY have a disease or a misfortune). What is the next step then?

When that verse came to me, I realised that when we pray and ask God for His promise, we also can ask God to give us happiness. To allow us to accept and enjoy what He has already given us, to understand that joy and happiness comes only from Him. When we surrender our circumstances and situation into His hands to focus on Him, that’s when God will fill our hearts with gladness.

Chelsie