Do you ever wake up and just feel oppressed? I know that’s a strong word, but do you know what I mean? Your eyes burn, and you think, why am I so tired? You roll out of bed and notice a crick in your neck. Great. I must have slept on it wrong.
You pad into the kitchen, and as you stand at the sink you hear a child waking in their room. Well, there goes my idea of some quiet time to myself. You reach for the coffee canister because you just can’t deal, not yet, not without some caffeine. Then you spill coffee grounds all over the counter and the floor.
As your bare feet track coffee across the kitchen you realize you just don’t feel good, in fact you feel lousy. You feel down in the dumps, and you don’t even know why. For some reason the not knowing, the inability to give cause to your mood makes it even worse.
Did you know God wants you to be happy? I’m not unrealistic. I understand that some days will be bad days, and some circumstances will be too much to bear, but I wonder how often perhaps our situation could be changed if we could only believe it’s possible.
I think for myself personally I’ve been guilty of believing that God doesn’t have the time for something as simple as my hormonal or emotional frailty, or that perhaps I’m not even worthy of his Holy Spirit, and its ability to fill my heart with peace and joy. I think, although I need it I don’t deserve it. Yet, he still gives it.
Before Jesus left this earth in bodily form he promised I am with you always. He didn’t say sometimes or only if you deserve it, and although you must be a believer and follower of him to receive this great grace fully, it doesn’t alter the fact that he is present. Always.
Aside from believing the lie that I am undeserving of such a gift, or of his valuable time, I often think maybe that’s just the way things are. After all, they say the life of Christianity is a difficult one, a narrow road that is often hard to walk. This bearing of my cross must be why I feel bad. The fact that I’m not skipping down the street paved with gold taking the world’s easy way out must be why I’m so weary.
This might make some folks a little unhappy with me, but I think that’s a load of malarkey. While the Bible does state the walk of a Christian will not always be easy, I don’t think that means it always has to be hard. God himself wants us to enjoy life. It’s this sinful world that makes the way difficult.
God wants us to be happy, and he desires for us to depend on him for that happiness. When this world weighs us down and brings us distress he wants us to ask for his peace, his comfort, and his joy. We don’t have to struggle through our day burdened by what surrounds us, and feeling like that’s our cross to bear, or just the way things are this side of glory.
Being happy and enjoying this life doesn’t mean you look forward to eternity any less. It means you know how to be a good steward of the gift he has given you here on earth, albeit a brief one in the grand scheme. And when you struggle with it he desires nothing less than for you to lean on his strength and ask for his mighty hand to lift you out of your daily despair.