Peace and Happiness 

 “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (2 Thes 3: 16) 

   Peace and happiness, everyone wants them, but often fail to find them because they are looking in all the wrong places.  There is only one source that will bring true peace and happiness, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

   Since my wife passed away people, both friends and family, seem to wonder if I am happy.  They offer suggestions to help me be happy, assuming I must be unhappy I guess.  They offer these ideas out of love, and I sincerely appreciate their concern.

   However, my happiness doesn’t lie in what often passes for happiness in this world.  For instance, my wife and I used to travel quite a bit and we had a great time; we knew happiness in sharing these experiences.  But the biggest part of that happiness was sharing the fun with the one we loved.  These trips, this type of happiness, no longer appeals to me.

   That does not, however, mean that I am not happy.  Of course, I’m saddened by the loss of my wife, but I am confident that Karen is now in God’s kingdom knowing the joys and happiness that I can only hope to attain.  That fact brings joy to me in so many ways and has strengthened my faith through the hope of joining her in paradise.

   One who does not know the Lord and who does not draw their happiness from Him can’t understand the joy I know in life.  I have family I love and who love me; I have friends I love and who love me; most of all, I have my Lord I love and who loves me.  And I have the happiness of anticipating the reunion with my wife and spending eternity with her in God’s kingdom.

   Worldly happiness is fickle and short-lived, but happiness in God is eternal.  My hope is that all can come to know the happiness that I have found in faith and the love of God.