Must We Choose Between Our Happiness And God’s Glory?

Must we choose between our happiness and God’s glory?

All the people of Judah were happy because they had made this covenant with all their heart. They took delight in worshiping the LORD, and he accepted them and gave them peace on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15, GNT

I assert without hesitation, that the conversion described in Scripture is a happy thing and not a miserable one, and that if converted persons are not happy, the fault must be in themselves. . . . I am confident the converted man is the happiest man. J. C. RYLE

CHRISTOPHER PARKENING, considered by many to be the world’s greatest classical guitarist, achieved his musical dreams by the age of thirty. By then he was also a world-class fly-fishing champion.

However, success failed to bring him happiness. Weary of performances and recording sessions, Parkening bought a ranch and gave up on the guitar. But instead of finding happiness after getting away from it all, his life became increasingly empty. He wrote, “If you arrive at a point in your life where you have everything that you’ve ever wanted and thought would make you happy and it still doesn’t, then you start questioning things. It’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I had that and I thought, ‘Well, what’s left?’”

While visiting friends, Parkening attended church and put his faith in Christ. He developed a hunger for Scripture and was struck by 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (NIV).

He explains, “I realized there were only two things I knew how to do: fly fish for trout and play the guitar. Well, I am playing the guitar today absolutely by the grace of God. . . . I have a joy, a peace, and a deep-down fulfillment in my life I never had before. My life has purpose. . . . I’ve learned first-hand the true secret of genuine happiness.”^a

Charles Spurgeon also loved to connect the gospel and happiness: “There is nothing that more tends to strengthen the faith of the young believer than to hear the veteran Christian, covered with scars from the battle, testifying that the service of his Master is a happy service, and that, if he could have served any other master, he would not have done so, for His service is pleasant, and His reward everlasting joy.”^b

If we weigh the value of our happiness against the needs of a suffering world, we may suppose we have no right to be happy. But the fact is, unhappy Christians have little to offer a suffering world. Our happiness in Christ, which involves not indifference but heartfelt compassion, allows us to help others and share with them the joy in Christ. It is this same happiness that energizes and sustains us as we serve God and others.

Of course, if we compare the value of our happiness to the value of God and his glory, our happiness is far outweighed. But the same is true of everything else. God and his glory are infinitely more important than our families, friendships, churches, and jobs, but that doesn’t mean any of those people and things are unimportant. Indeed, God himself tells us they are important.

Such a comparison also makes the false assumption that God’s glory and our happiness fall on two different sides of a balance, to be weighed against each other. On the contrary, they are inextricably linked—both are parts of his design and plan. God is glorified when we are happy in him, so our happiness shouldn’t be weighed against his glory but seen as part of it.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “The people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world! People should be coming to us constantly and asking the source of our joy and delight.”^c Tozer’s statement is grounded on the belief that God is happy. This is what makes our happiness in God both possible and significant. Not first and foremost because we want to be happy (though of course we do), but because God made us to want to be happy and because he himself truly wants us to be happy.

If people are not coming to us and asking us the source of our joy and delight, it should cause us to reflect on our view of God’s happiness. We should ask him to empower us to delight in him more for his glory, our good, and the good of those around us who desperately need to see and hear the “good news of great joy” in Jesus (Luke 2:10).

Jesus, you gave your life so we could be together forever, experiencing true happiness and delight. Help us share your delight so that our friends and family and neighbors see in us your gladness and are eagerly drawn to join in your joy and ours. May we remember that being happy in you brings you the greatest glory.