The Search for Happiness

Excerpts from Truth for Life Radio Program

Pastor Alistair Begg

The Book of Ecclesiastes

(paraphrased from a July 2022 Radio Broadcast)

Are you searching for happiness? 

The following list of activities is actually a diversion from true happiness:

· Laughter/Entertainment

· Drinking/Partying

· “Projects”

· Materialism and looking for the next thing to buy

· Trying to be the most successful person in your field

· Education (and expecting it to be the end-all to success in life)

· Pleasure-seeking activities

· Moving from goal to goal, looking for success and contentment

These paths do not give us answers, nor do they look at the realities.  We often think these activities are what makes a happy life.  Most often (when you really assess your happiness in life), the result is an unsatisfied longing of the soul. 

These are all dead end streets.  Today’s culture calls both the young and old down these paths.  They are only diversions that we can’t really hold on to tightly.  We are forced to acknowledge that earthly things don’t fill the void and the search leaves us unsatisfied.  Death can teach us how to truly live—and as Christians we should live with the end in mind.  The end, that is, of our earthly lives.

While it is important to learn to laugh and to live in this world, young people especially need to learn to stand against cultural directives and replace this list by standing up for God’s directives.  The reasoning on this is that you may meet God in your youth but even if you live a long life you will eventually meet God.  Don’t turn your back on this truth!

Happy or Sad in this life, We will all Stand Before God one day

Standing before God is the ultimate destination for each person that has lived.  We stand before God (not with our parents or friends, but alone) to explain our lives and He WILL be asking you to explain your actions.  He will want to know if you spent your life trusting Christ and no one else, or did you depend on your own righteousness as you lived your life.

The Gospel Message is the Key to a Meaningful Life

One imperative given to parents by God is to demonstrate His love to your children.  Understand that you are their role models.  They observe you and they do what you do.  For example, if you drink excessively, chances are your kids will not only drink, they will do it in excess as well.  Another example is passing a family business down through the generations.  Succession planning doesn’t always work out, and too much pressure can lead to mental health issues in some children that will stay with them if they don’t seek help outside of the family.

How a parent lives his or her life influences the children.  If a parent isn’t sure how to find happiness (and they seek to find happiness from the above list of dead-end streets), the children will follow. 

Move Away from Diversions

Move away from focusing on these diversions and find peace and happiness in the teachings of the Bible.  Living with personal faith in Jesus Christ and obeying what He tells us in the Bible is the key to a meaningful life.  Instill this value in your children by doing it for yourself.  Making the shift from cultural values to biblical values will enable you to be the role model God intended—to strengthen your family and give them hope for their future.

Does your life matter in the big picture?

The same old routine seems to prevail in our daily lives.  Would it mean more if you could stop the clock or buy more time?  Know that you may be insignificant in the world, but your life is significant to God!  Life can be like a jigsaw that has puzzle pieces missing.  A whole new perspective is needed if you feel like the same old routine is taxing your attitude.  When God created the world, He meant for it to be a perfect world, where everyone enjoys fellowship with each other while enjoying the beauty, harmony and perfection of His creation.

There is no escaping the word of God.  This is what will ultimately make your life matter.  God has a divine purpose that satisfies—if each person could know Him and live in fellowship with Him, there would be a huge burden lifted.  Your life can matter!  We were made for eternity and to live without God causes confusion for individual people.

God spoke to us in the person of His Son

The Bible was written for us because God understands our needs.  Life is a gift and should be lived as fruitfully as possible.  The Bible tells us how to live.  The book of Ecclesiastes is full of wisdom for living.  It explains that we are not in control—God is, even when we think differently.  Your happiness may depend on your faith that God is in control and acting in your best interest.

The above information is based on the book “Living Life Backward” by David Gibson, Minister of Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.  Pastor Alistair Begg helps us understand happiness as outlined in this book by looking at earthly things and understanding that they don’t help fill the natural void in the human heart.  We pursue pleasure and other earthly things in the wrong places and as we all know, dead-end streets lead nowhere.  Do you have unsatisfied longing in your soul?  For more information, please visit truthforlife.org and/or purchase the book online.