Please don’t waste another day falling victim to the lie that your happiness and contentment are dependent on things outside of your control. Don’t hand the keys to your happiness over to people and forces that have no business controlling you. I’m not saying that what happened to you wasn’t tragic; I’m simply saying that allowing past events and present circumstances to dictate your attitude gives them a control over you that they don’t deserve.
Happiness starts with a choice. Look at the prophet Jeremiah and the Old Testament book of Lamentations. An oft-overlooked book, Lamentations is simply a heart cry of pain by the prophet Jeremiah over the destruction of his beloved city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In the midst of this lament, Jeremiah wears his heart on his sleeve,
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink. Lamentations 3:1-5, 13-15
That’s just a snapshot. There’s five chapters of that, five chapters of Jeremiah bringing his lament of his tragic life to God. But in the middle of the book, Jeremiah makes a key pivot, and it’s the key to happiness in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:19-24
In the midst of his tragic circumstances, Jeremiah chose to dwell on the goodness of God. When the lies of the enemy flooded his mind with the thought that all was lost, he literally spoke the truth of God’s goodness to himself. Jeremiah had every right to be downcast, but he chose hope. He chose happiness.
No matter what situation you’re walking through, it probably doesn’t compare to the destruction of your nation and the genocide of your people. In the midst of that cataclysm, Jeremiah chose to hope in God. If he can do it, so can you. Your happiness today is a choice.
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