Chariot July 2007 - Norm Wakefield

In Search of Happiness - Part 1

    Most people will do whatever it takes to be happy. Humans almost seem to think personal happiness is a birthright. Steve (not his real name) gave this self-evaluation: "I've noticed that almost everything I do is wrapped around my own happiness and comfort. It is a powerful drive in my life that affects almost everything I do." Can you relate to Steve's assessment?

What is happiness?

    What do most people long for? What is happiness to them? For many, happiness entails being in control of life. They get their way, their ideas and opinions are honored above others, and they have as few hindrances to self-fulfillment as possible. The power to cope with life's situations and trials may be another way to explain happiness. The absence of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain may be considered by most as an important aspect of the state of happiness.
    Larry Crabb, Christian counselor and author of the book, Inside Out, expressed the quest for happiness this way: we all have a God-authored longing for heaven deep down inside of us. We have a need for security; a need for peace; a deep desire for everything to be like heaven�no pain, comfort, peaceful. He suggests such need is God-given. Francis Schaeffer in his book, Whatever Happened to the Human Race, observed that personal peace and affluence are the primary goals of man.
    Desiring to be happy isn't always bad. In fact, I think I agree with Crabb that the desire to be happy, full, and free from pain may be a God-given desire intended to lead us ultimately to a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. For God alone can remove the pain of guilt in the soul and fill the emptiness within. Ultimately, we long for heaven. And there's the problem: to experience heaven, we have to die to temporal living and to ourselves. The drive to be happy�to cope with all the affairs, situations and circumstances of life, to have the ability to perform adequately�cannot be satisfied by any power source other than God. 
    However, man's quest for happiness seldom begins by seeking fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He thinks happiness and freedom from pain and guilt can be obtained through temporal means. He looks for a power source capable of satisfying his soul's thirst for happiness. It is this search for happiness that makes our children (and ourselves) so vulnerable to the destructive spiritual forces in the world. 

Our search for happiness begins in childhood

    The search for happiness begins at an early age. Almost from birth, pain enters our experience. Children today deal with suffering and trials many of us didn't face until our twenties. Feeling a pressure to perform and gain approval is an early form of discomfort for children. What if a child doesn't perform to his father's or mother's standard? Perhaps the child feels unworthy, unaccepted, or rejected. That hurts! Can you remember such an experience in your childhood? How did you handle it?
    As a child grows into the teen years, so also his guilt grows. The flesh weaknesses and sinful tendencies express themselves more powerfully than in childhood. How does a young man or woman deal with such guilt? His or her need for happiness will cause him or her to try to anesthetize that pain.

The search for happiness explains many of our decisions

    Why does a young man try drugs or alcohol? Why does a man keep a secret stash of pornography, or have an uncontrollable drive to browse the dark side of cyberspace? Why does a man go into the ministry? Why does a man go into law? Why does he go into medicine, advertising, construction, or any vocation? Why does a man select a certain girl to marry? 
These seem like very different questions, but I believe the answer to each may be explained by their search for happiness. Each looks for something to fulfill, comfort, and secure personal happiness. 
    So what do we do with such a longing for happiness? If we don't realize God's purpose for that longing for peace, security, perfection, and acceptance within the soul, we'll be driven by a nagging fear and powerlessness into destruction as we come under the influence of temporal power sources. 

What spirit are you of?

    These power sources have a spiritual dimension to them. When I talk about a spiritual power, I'm talking about an influence. For instance, have you noticed that a person may come into a group and completely change the "spirit" of the group? Or perhaps you've worked with children and one child's attitude influenced the entire group. You removed that one child and the spirit of the group changed. So when I speak of a spirit, I'm thinking of the power of influence.
    I think Jesus understood the terms spirit and influence to be synonymous when he replied to His disciples' suggestion to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village that had not received them for the night. Jesus reproved them, "But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what kind of spirit you are of'" (Luke 9:55). In other words, He told them they didn't know what power was influencing them. 
    This is precisely my focus for this next set of Chariot articles on "In Search of Happiness". Do you know what power sources are influencing the way you live? Do you have spiritual discernment with regard to your children? Are you aware of the spiritual influences you are bringing or allowing in your home? 

Initiate family discussion with these questions

    I encourage you to begin discussing these ideas with your children. You might even listen to the message, In Search of Happiness, from the Equipping Men series to get a head start thinking about the Spirit of Law, the Spirit of Anti-Christ, and the Spirit of Holiness. This month, here are some questions you might ask to stimulate discussion in family devotions or around the dinner table.

� How important is it to you to be happy and comfortable?
� Discuss Steve's self-assessment and how it applies to your own life.
� What is happiness to you?
� When you feel emotional pain or discomfort, how do you handle it?
� Read Luke 9:51-55 and discuss what Jesus was seeing in the heavenly realm about His disciples that they couldn't see.

Would you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team?

    The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team".

    If you haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com, please stop by sometime. You'll find:

*   Resources to equip you and your family

*   Previous Chariot articles

*   Norm's speaking schedule

*   Free MP3 downloads  

*   Various pages translated and available in Spanish  

*   An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card  

The article above is a part of the Equipping Men series. The series is available on both audio cassette, CD, VHS and DVD. This and other resources, including all past issues of the Chariot, are available at http://www.spiritofelijah.com.

I invite you to be a part of the moving of the Spirit of Elijah in your church, community, and the world. How?

1.  Send this article to other men or families that you know would benefit from it. You might inform them of the previous articles available on-line at our website.

2.  Share resources from the Spirit of Elijah Ministries with others. If Equipping Men or Rising to the Call have been a blessing to you, then you know it will be beneficial to others. Either share your resources, tell them about the resources, or purchase a set or two as an investment in their lives.

3.  Share with others what you have learned and put into practice in turning your heart to God, your wife, and your children. If God has done this in you, then He wants to affect others through you.

4.  Join the Elijah Ministries email prayer team and make intercession for others that their hearts would be turned in revival to the Lord, their wives, and their children. This can be done on-line at www.spiritofelijah.com.  

            Norm Wakefield
            Elijah Ministries
            P.O. Box 377
            Bulverde, Texas 78163
            830.980.5606
            info@spiritofelijah.com
            http://www.spiritofelijah.com

07.07

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