The Pursuit of Happiness

by Pastor John Wallace Miller

Written to my sons, and with their permission, others who seek to honor Almighty God.

Lately, I have been pondering the well-known motto: “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This idea of the God-given right to pursue happiness intrigues me. George Mason is the first one to write that “nature” has given men the right to pursue happiness. He wrote this into the Virginia Declaration of Rights and it was accepted on June 12, 1776. Thomas Jefferson revised the idea slightly when he penned the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Jefferson added: “We are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights”

The notion that we ought to or have a right to pursue happiness is antithetical to biblical teaching. We do not obtain happiness by pursuing it and it is not a right to which we are entitled. It must never be our goal – the pursuit of happiness will be like getting in your car and trying to find that part of the rainbow that touches the earth after the sun peeks out through the rain clouds. As soon as you draw near to the place you think the colorful hues meet the ground, the rainbow has moved beyond your grasp.  This lack of fulfillment of actually obtaining true happiness does not deter the hopeless romantic who keeps believing that this time it will be different – this time I will find my soul’s contentment through the pursuit of pleasure. It is a vicious cycle and there are many casualties – you see them everywhere. Some people even stand at the gate to John Bunyan’s Vanity Fair and urge the naive to enter! Notice this sobering verse from the Apostle Peter: “Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” (II Peter 2:19) All around us there are voices urging us to fulfill our fleshly appetites and promising “happiness” if we will just cast self-discipline to the wind. We have all been there, we have gone back too many times – even in the midst of watching others flounder! You would think that if you got burnt enough times you would stay away from the fire. But the fact is that hormones will trump holy intentions unless they are checked by self-discipline. And self-discipline has a hard time kicking in unless it is bolstered by a sober look at consequences. Solomon posits the question: “Can a man take fire in his lap and his clothes not get burned?” (Proverbs 6:27)

The pursuit of pleasure is a trap – an evil trap. Let me give you an analogy. Pleasure in some ways is like money. The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. (I Timothy 6:10)  Money is neutral – what makes it a positive commodity or not depends upon how one handles it. We are not to pursue money either! “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” (Proverbs 23:4-5) Pursue pleasure and it will soon flitter away, as well, leaving you standing there with dashed hopes and wasted years. Worldly pursuit, though temporarily satisfying, always has a built-in fizzle to it.

Do you want pleasure that truly satisfies? I do.  We would not have been given the capacity to feel deep satisfaction if God did not intend for us to experience it. This pot of gold is not beyond our grasp! Listen to King David: “You will make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11)  Here is the key to true happiness: Pursue God! In Him and through Him only are the deep longings of your heart fulfilled. This requires trust – faith that God’s care and plan is better than the world’s! To pursue holiness rather than happiness is to obtain a most rewarding outcome. But if we entertain the sweet talk of the White Witch of Narnia whispering in our ear; if we take even one bite, her Turkish Delight will mesmerize us, enchant us, entice us right back to Pleasure Island; and like Pinocchio, we make jackasses of ourselves once again!

If you sincerely want God’s will for your life, and the peace and happiness that come with it, you must decide to walk with Him wherever He may choose to lead you. You must trust that His path is the best one for you – you must believe that He alone (not the gods of this world) has your best interest at heart.

I share these things because each of us live in a world where mine fields have been placed by the devil at every turn. I share these things with you because even the mighty fall if they are not alert to the powerful temptations of the evil one. I write these things to you because I love you with all my heart and desperately want you to know the contentment and joy that comes from a serious, no compromise walk with the Lord.

Dad