Oh, to be a dog, eh? This is our gorgeous dog, Kaelen. He is a pure-bred kelpie, bought and trained from a pup by our second-oldest daughter Anna. He has a pedigree. He was bred for a purpose. He was brought here for a purpose. His purpose here is to help us move sheep around and move them through the yards. But, most of the time, he doesn't do that, because there isn't that much sheep work to do here. So, his happiest moments are when he's flying through the air, chasing a tennis ball. His eyes glow and his body is agile and he is alive!! He spends hours sitting, sometimes staring at me through the kitchen window, begging me with his eyes to come and play. And when I do, he's so happy. He loves long runs around the farm, following after a motorbike or vehicle, but his happy place is chasing that ball.
What is your happy place? Is it just when you are fulfilling the purpose for which you were signed up to whatever role you play in life? Or is it when you are enjoying yourself and enjoying the company of those who love you and whom you love?
I look at my mother who, sadly, has spent her whole life trying to make others happy, and at this late stage in her life, she feels like a massive failure because they are often unhappy, but the failure isn't hers. It's theirs. It was never her purpose to make them happy, not in God's eyes. Her purpose, the reason He thought of her, designed her, created her, was to enjoy Him and enjoy herself. She doesn't know that. She thinks she's here on this earth to make people happy and to constantly miss out and let go and forego to keep them that way. But the people she's trying to make happy have choices to make, and the choices they make mean they will never be happy. Because for them to be happy means to exalt themselves and to have their own way, all the time. That is NOT happy. They are not happy and the people they 'love' are not happy.
I wonder what makes God happy? And He's not someone who needs to have it all His own way to be happy. He is happy when we are living a full life, a life overflowing with the goodness He first placed in this world. He is happy when we make good choices, right choices, holy choices, and when we choose happy for ourselves, a happy not based on our circumstances, but grounded in our hearts. A happy that starts in our hearts, founded on knowing His love and being grateful to Him and confident in Him, in the midst of any circumstance. A happy that starts and stays in fearing Him above all others, wanting to bring Him happy (pleasure), not appeasing someone else.
I've just recently read some of John Bevere's thoughts on fearing the Lord, and I found this verse:
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied Proverbs 19:23
Are we satisfied and happy in Him? Are we at rest, happy that we bring Him pleasure, make Him happy above all else, above everyone else? Have we found the ultimate happy that He offers - to delight in Him as He delights in us.
Linking up with Kate Motaung at Five Minute Friday, where the prompt word for today is 'happy'.
<a href="http://katemotaung.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://katemotaung.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Five-Minute-Friday-4.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a>
Kath, I love the picture of Kaelen. We have a heeler, Ladron, who was bred for a purpose but found another, being my service dog.
ReplyDeleteShe happily bosses me around, and with her assistant (Sylvia The Big Pit Bull) will hide my hand tools if I try to work when she thinks I am not up to it (I'm terminal, that's why).
Is she happy? I think that, impatience with her idiot human aside, she's delighted. She has a purpose, and her daily goal is simply living the purpose.
Of course, getting a bit of my wife's dinner is OK too.
Loved your post. Made me Happy.
#1 at FMF this week.
http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2016/08/your-dying-spouse-190-mustard-seed-of.html
Hi Andrew. Thanks for your comments. Dogs are so very good at being happy and making us happy. I'm glad that you have her, and Sylvia, to help carry the load. One of our daughters found great comfort in her dog when she was ill.
ReplyDeleteI teach beginner guitar, and I had a lesson today. Time flew by, and I felt sad our time was up. Being together with my student today brought me such happiness, it's hard to describe. Part of my happiness, I believe, is in living out God's design for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think about how God can use us, the way he made us, to bring him pleasure and us pleasure and allow us to be a blessing to others all at the same time.
Thank you for your words. I hope you found your happy place in writing them. Your words made me smile.
Thanks for your feedback, Cheryl. I'm glad my words helped. And I hope the thought that you give Him pleasure becomes less crazy for you, and for all of us, and we all realise how crazy in-love He is with each of us.
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