Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness pt 3

A song from the 90's says, "if it makes you happy, it can't be that bad."

 

Really?
 

Chris Gardner, (Will Smith) in the "Pursuit of Happyness," speaks of our inalienable rights and suggests the genius of Jefferson's plight with the phrase 'pursuit of happiness.' It's as if to say we have the right to train our ambitious minds to attain this emotional state of ecstasy all the while realizing that it may simply be a figment of our imagination. 
 

"How can you say that happiness could be just a figment of our imagination? After all, doesn't God just want us to be happy?"
 

Here's what I know. Happiness can be an elusive creature that causes pain and heartache if it's promise isn't fulfilled.  

God created everything to be good; hence, happiness implied. But man's struggle to be satisfied by such perfect harmony resulted in a rebellious notion to sin. This attempt for a lifestyle of superficial happiness in the garden, in turn, led to a disappointing end.  

While we have continued to pursue our own means of happiness God has unveiled His redemptive plan to secure His original design; a relationship with Him. But why? Where Jefferson and Gardner fail to clearly explain this course of happiness, God continues to declare that our greatest joy is found in Him alone.
 

So, if happiness is not meant to be the climactic pursuit of this life, then, what is? If the apex of man's existence is not some moment of emotional ecstasy, what shall we say?

Perhaps God is wanting to chart a different course for us; the pursuit of something greater than the warm feelings of a happy heart. "Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace...from a pure heart" (2 Tim 2:22). When our pursuit of God navigates our thoughts, emotions, speech, and actions, we will find the greatest satisfaction known to man.

Don't seek to be happy! Seek God in His holy splendor and trust that when you find Him [yet, when He finds you], you will find all your heart ever longed for!