I need to trust in God for real peace and joy.
Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Everybody likes to hang out with happy people, everybody likes a party, and hey the pursuit of happiness is a protected right in this country. But the pursuit of happiness can be so elusive, so difficult to obtain for any significant amount of time, we are happy now but wait five minutes and check back with me.
Happiness is just a diversion for what we are really searching for. Although most of us spend our lives not realizing it, what we really are trying to find is joy.
Christians are told to always be full of joy and yet there are so many of us that are difficult and cranky. It seems that the cares of the "worldly" people have become our cares as well, we become overly concerned with selfish desires, pursuit of fame, fortune, prosperity and power.
Anxiety indicates a lack of faith, Paul said the remedy for anxiety is prayer, we have to exercise our faith that God can handle our problems. Paul goes on to say that as we pray for everything we will receive peace that is beyond understanding.
When faith in God becomes real, peace and joy will abound in our lives which will be attractive to the unbelieving world around us. Without the peace and joy from God we will spend our entire lives chasing after happiness.
Lord help us to lay aside the pursuit of worldly desires that don't last.
