imakelar

No Happiness?

Everyone longs to have a happy life. Remember, Happiness is actually not a condition that is determined by the situation around us, but is the result of a decision we make. This relates to the attitude of the heart in responding to every situation that occurs and we experience.

Many people think: “If I had a beautiful wife or handsome husband, my life would be happy; if I had a nice car and had a luxurious house in an elite area, my life would be happy.” The fact that it does not guarantee people will be happy in life.

No matter how hard the situation we are in or how bad the situation is, we will still be happy as long as we live in God’s way or follow all the paths that God commands (verse nas). Living in God’s way or following God’s way means living in the truth.

“Blessed are those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, who do not stand in the way of sinners, and who do not sit in the crowd of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on the law day and night.”

Doesn’t God promise that He will always be with us, defend us, strengthen us, reveal His miracles, and do great things in the lives of the righteous. Therefore we must hold fast to this promise of God by living in obedience. We lose happiness when we hear too much of the human voice, the world’s voice, which is often debilitating.

On the other hand, if we always incline our ears to hear God’s voice (His word), it will make us strong and rejoice in all circumstances. We will also lose happiness if we live in sin, because sin produces fear and makes us lose peace and joy. Our lives will be happy if we live in God’s way.

Grateful In Every Situations

It’s easy to be grateful when we’re in good shape, but what if things turn around 180 degrees: distress, trouble, trouble, suffering, crisis, illness, failure, bankruptcy experienced, can we still give thanks to God?

Or maybe we will act like Job’s wife , who when afflicted with problems and sufferings, urged her husband to deny God: “Do you still persevere in your piety Curse your God and die!”

In living this life, the journey we take is not always smooth and calm, sometimes the ship of our life has to experience the blows of waves, hurricanes, even the brunt of big and fierce waves.

The world’s people also realize that life is like a spinning wheel: sometimes up, sometimes down, there are joys and there are sorrows. Job said to his wife, “Are we willing to receive the good from God, but not accept the bad?”

Often we demand God to do what we want, so that when something happens that is not what we want we are immediately angry and disappointed with God. When in heavy struggles our faith often falters, then we start to take our own path that we think is right, even though it is not necessarily true and in accordance with God’s will.

Job learned to keep positive thinking, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, naked also I will return to it. The Lord who gave, the Lord who took, praise the name of the Lord!” Learn to be grateful in all circumstances.

If right now we are going through bad things, stop complaining and nagging. Never open an opening for evil to rob us of our peace. Believe that even in a bad situation God is able to turn for good for us:

“I will make rivers spring up on bare hills, and make springs of water boast in the midst of the plains; I will make the desert into ponds. and emits water from dry land.” God always has a plan in every situation, so stay grateful.

The Death Penalty

In 1983, Karla Tucker brutally murdered two people. She killed them both with an ax while she was carrying out a robbery. However, in prison he confessed his sins to God and became a passionate believer.

Many people hope this change will convince lawyers to reduce his sentence to life in prison. However, the court rejected all applications. The woman remained on death row in 1998, 14 years after her death sentence was handed down.

Even though we have received God’s forgiveness, we still have to face the consequences of our sin. If we lie, mistreat someone, act irresponsibly, damage other people’s property, or violate local laws, we must still make every effort to make amends for all the wrongs we have done.

It is really nice to know that we are forgiven when we confess our sins to God. However, that does not mean we are free from all the consequences of sin. That’s why confessing sin is a good thing, but saying “no” to sin is even better.

“I will confess to the LORD my transgressions,’ and you forgive me the guilt of my sins.”

Rebuke

“He who neglects discipline throws himself away, but he who listens to rebuke gains wisdom.”

Any parent does not want their children to be naughty children, fail in studies, wrong in relationships, and experience suffering in the future. All parents would expect their children to be successful in all the fields they are engaged in and become very proud children.

Therefore parents try to give the best for their children, even they are willing to do and sacrifice anything for the sake of the child. Even so, parents sometimes have to be strict with their children: advising, educating, warning, reprimanding, and if necessary, beating, for the good of the child.

God does the same with His children. In addition to pouring out His love, His mercy, His care, His goodness, His inclusion, and His help, He will also give rebuke, advice, and chastisement to His children when they commit transgressions or live deviant lives. of His will.

The purpose of God’s rebuke and chastisement is so that we become deterrent and no longer repeat mistakes, so that we can grow in the right direction according to His will. Reprimands, beatings, or chastisement from God against His children can be in the form of problems, illnesses, difficulties, or distress.

But there are so many people who respond to God’s rebuke and chastisement with the wrong heart attitude: hurt, angry, offended, disappointed, blaming circumstances, blaming others, and even daring to blame God.

When David committed a grave sin before God, namely adultery with Bathsheba, God used Nathan to rebuke and warn. David’s response, “I have sinned against the LORD.” He asked God for forgiveness and repented.

When we receive a rebuke and chastisement from God, do not be disappointed and angry. Instead, be grateful because it means that God treats us as children, because there is no child who has never been beaten by good father.

Our Good Father

There was a 5 year old girl who really liked to play, she could never stay still, always going back and forth to play with whatever she saw. One day, She came to play at her uncle’s house with her father and mother.

When her parents were talking to her uncle, she found something new that piqued her curiosity, namely a fan at the end of the room. The girl doesn’t have a fan in her house, so the fan is something new and interesting for her. She got closer to the fan and was about to put his hand into the fan that was spinning fast.

Her father who saw this was very shocked, he immediately ran to his daughter and blocked her hand from the fan. The father then scolded his daughter and forbade her to play with the fan. Because of what his father did, the daughter looked into her father’s eyes with anger. She ended up crying so hard she shouted, “Bad father!”

The daughter represents us, the fan represents something that can destroy us, and the father represents God. We are often attracted by something that can actually destroy us. Of course if we “touch” something that can destroy us, not good things will happen, but bad things.

Often God immediately runs and blocks us from such a bad thing.God does that to protect us and because He loves us. However, we like to be unaware of the protection God has given us. When God protects us from things that can destroy us, we get angry with Him. We say God is evil because He doesn’t give us what we want.

Our thoughts and God’s thoughts are very different, like the difference between the earth and the sky. Like the child who does not understand the danger of the fan and the father who understands the danger of the fan, such is the difference between our understanding and God’s understanding.

If God is holding you back from something today (maybe it’s a job you want, maybe it’s a relationship you want, or maybe it’s an item you want), don’t be angry with Him. God stops you not just for fun, but because He knows what’s best for you. He is protecting you from bad things that can destroy you in the future.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Speak With Love

A boy and his stepfather have difficulty communicating with each other. The father is a friendly person, while the son is quiet. The father likes fishing, while the son likes to read. In order to be closer to him, his father took him fishing. The son didn’t really like the invitation, but he didn’t know how to tell his father directly. So he wrote on a piece of paper that he wanted to go home. After looking at it for a while, the father pocketed the paper.

The fishing event continued for the next four days. When they finally got home, the son expressed his despair to his mother and said that his stepfather didn’t care about his writing. But the mother said to him, “Son, your father can’t read.”Unfortunately, the father never revealed this to the child.

Good communication occurs not only when we know what we want to say, but also when we know the person we are talking to. To get to know each other, we must be willing if others know our weaknesses and shortcomings. “Therefore throw away lies and speak the truth one to another, for we are members of one another.” Be kind to one another, loving and forgiving one another. Come on, open your ears to understand, then speak with love.

Start With Smile

“I smile at them, when they’re desperate, and their faces can’t be darkened by them.”

Start with smile. This means that when problems arise at work, face them with a smile, not anger. A smile opens up opportunities for friendship, eliminates stiffness, provides shade, and makes people brave to face the complexities of life.

A smile will change your mood and thoughts to be positive. The hidden power will come to the surface. Optimism will grow, fear will be eroded because a smile is a sign of optimism. In addition, those who smile will also enjoy a pleasant association.

Between them there will be warmth, intimacy, freshness, and even enthusiasm. We ourselves will feel enjoy when entering an institution whose conditions must be people with smiling faces. A smile is a force that can bring about change.

The Evil Eyes

In the midst of uncertain conditions like today, humans seem confused to face situations that are increasingly difficult to occur in our lives: living expenses, children’s education costs, insurance, credit installments, and so on.

Therefore we must distinguish between wants and basic needs which we must really strive for. Sometimes to follow trends and lifestyles, many offers appear. We also want to have a lot of money to fulfill all our desires.

This is where the evil comes into play by taking over our whole mind and heart. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This is the basis when we always think about and want the world’s treasures.

The eye is a part of the body that functions to see the good and bad things in our lives. Especially when a greater desire dominates our hearts and minds, seeing all the attractive offers the world has to offer, all kinds of conveniences, luxurious lifestyles, and so on, will make us trapped by evil’s tricks with all luxuries so that we are tempted to do everything possible. to achieve it even if it is against moral values.

“If your eyes are evil, your whole body is darkened. So if the light that is in you is dark, how dark is the darkness. Neither can serve two masters. For if so, he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the other. One and do not heed the other.

You cannot serve God and to Mammon. We must use our eyes well so that the light that is within us will shine and emit light. Let no darkness overwhelm us so that we are controlled by evil who succeeds in extinguishing the light that is within us through the eyes.

A Child’s Prayer

A five-year-old boy wants a toy horse-drawn carriage as a birthday present. While shopping with his mother, he saw the toy horse carriage he wanted. The toy was about 15 cm long and had nice wheels and was pulled by a dark brown plastic easel. “Mom, I want this one. Yes, yes,” he pleaded. Like a child, he whined and insisted on getting the carriage as his birthday present. The mother said, “See you later,” and took the son home. The boy was sure he would get what he asked for.

On his birthday, he received a gift from his mother. He opened the gift confidently. Sure enough, it was the horse carriage he had requested. He was very happy. But then her sister said, “You are such a fool for insisting on getting that carriage. Mama already bought you a much bigger carriage, but when you whined for the small one, I exchanged it.” Suddenly the horse-drawn carriage did not look attractive anymore.

Sometimes we are like that to God. We pray for a particular need and say how He should answer it. We beg and ask, until God finally gives us exactly what we ask for. In fact, He actually intended to give something better. Don’t think we know best when we start praying. Tell Him, “Thy will be done.” Believe His ways are perfect.

Because You Are Precious.

Failed the test. Failing a grade. Get laid off. Bankruptcy in business Have no possessions. Husband no longer loves. Friends stay away. There are many more things that can lead to feelings of being insignificant and worthless. Then can only complain, complain and complain.

Feeling like the most unfortunate person in the world. Lazy to get up and do something, surrender and finally really lose. But God’s words to Isaiah give us comfort, hope, and strength: “Because you are precious in My eyes and glorious, and I love you…Do not be afraid, for I am with you…”.

A slumped situation can indeed cause a loss of joy, happiness, and even peace in life so that you feel like a failure and worthless. But remember God’s words remind that God always sees us valuable in His eyes. We will never be wasted by Him, on the contrary, He loves us immensely. Shouldn’t this strengthen and enable us to rise again and to keep trying to do the best we can, and believe in God’s blessings.

Stay strong and don’t give up. There is new strength, there is new spirit, and there is new hope in God. Amen.