Issue 06, Volume 27: Full-Time Happy

I recently realized that it’s a waste of life to stay upset and stressed when facing a challenge. When you know that God has a track record of making a way, you do not waste your life worrying about problems that show up once in a while, or even every now and then.

You must have realized in your own life that not every storm is on the forecast. Some problems just spring up on us unannounced, and sometimes undeserved. We therefore need to get ready, stay strong before the storm.

Make up your mind to be full-time happy. Decide that you will be happy in the storm and happy when the storm is over. That no matter what comes; you will keep your peace and stay happy.

It is okay to enjoy your life while you have a problem. You don’t have to wait for the problem to go away to be happy. After all, no amount of worrying or being unhappy has the power to solve your problem. Trusting in God gets the best results all the time.

What messes us up is the waiting, and sometimes the problem gets worse before it gets better. And we are tempted to doubt if God can really fix it. No matter how bad your problem gets, tell yourself and other doubting Thomas’s around you that God is working. It may not look like it, but God is at work in the situation.

I have had a loaded stretch at work this year with only short breaks here and there, and I thought I was going to enjoy myself when I finally get to take a long break at the end of the year. Then I realized that that’s not good enough for me. I need to enjoy the whole year, not just a fraction of it. I work hard, but I have to enjoy my life as I work, not wait to enjoy life only during rest times.

During this long school holiday in Kenya, my children have been counting down days to the day we leave for a family vacation sometime next month. I look at them and think to myself how terrible it would be for me if I actually waited for that day to enjoy myself. Then what would I do when that vacation period comes to an end, I wait for the next one? No, that’s not the way to live.

Don’t wait for the day you get a well deserved break to enjoy your life. That’s not good enough. Determine to enjoy every other day of your life, whether you are at work, at home, or at a lovely resort on vacation. Make up your mind to enjoy your life whether everything in your life is just the way you want it; or you are waiting for something to happen, a breakthrough, a miracle; or you are going through a challenge.

Jesus said that “I came that you may have life and have it to the full”. God wants us to enjoy life. This whole idea of being miserable while going through a problem is the devil’s idea to keep us away from what Jesus paid a price for us to have.

The Bible says “rejoice and again I say rejoice”. This stuff about rejoicing must be important for God to have said it twice on the same verse! He must have known that there would be many opportunities for us to lose our joy, hence repeated it to stress the point, commanding us to rejoice no matter what comes.

Additionally, it doesn’t say to rejoice only when things are good in your life. It says to rejoice always. There is so much strength in joy, it keeps us going. What we need more than anything else while going through something hard is the joy the Lord and the peace of God that surpasses understanding. And these are available for the taking for whosoever will.

Just because your child is unwell or your marriage is in trouble doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. There is no power in misery. Cast your care to the Lord and enjoy your life. You have no power to heal anything. Your being unhappy carries no magical power to change the situation. Do your part and trust God. Take your problem to the miracle worker and leave it there. He is faithful.

Worrying and fretting only sets you up for regret. God answers but you are not in a position to receive because you are bordering on doubt instead of faith. And if per chance you do not doubt but stay unhappy, you will feel wasted when the situation is resolved and you realize that God was working after all, you did not need to worry. What a waste of life! Be happy while you wait.

The next time you have a challenge, take it as an opportunity to see God work. Things always work out when we trust God, always. Chose to trust God even if nothing good comes out of it. Decide to be full-time happy; happy in the storm, and happy when the storm is over.

Lillian Chebosi