WHY ARE WE SO UNHAPPY?

 

Thursday, May 6, 2021

 

WHY ARE WE SO UNHAPPY?

 

Matt 5:1-2

5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them …

 

           I could be wrong, it has happened before, but I think the entire “sermon on the mount” is a response to Jesus’ seeing the multitudes. I think every sermon should have this as its foundation. What is going on with the people? Do they need information, inspiration, or exhortation?

 

           They were unhappy with themselves. Since Jesus begins with “happy or blessed is the man,” we suspect He saw a multitude of UN-happy people. To be poor in spirit means to be humble, to have a correct estimate of oneself. To sit alone and to be satisfied with one’s own company is rare in our modern culture. Instead, we sit like a child, surrounded by toys, with arms folded and a pouting face. It is not enough.

 

           They were unhappy because of sin. Sin had so scrambled the proper order of things that they mourned, literally “wailed” because of it. Yet they had no formula or antidote to effect a cure. Their system of religion was external which left them internally dissatisfied.

 

           Their desires were unfulfilled because their desires were broken. Matt 5:6 says: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” We can easily read it another way. “Unhappy are they whose desires are out of order for they shall never be satisfied.”

 

           Warren Wiersbe said: “As we read the Beatitudes, we find that they represent an outlook radically different from that of the world. The world praises pride, not humility. The world endorses sin, especially if you "get away with it." The world is at war with God, while God is seeking to reconcile His enemies and make them His children. We must expect to be persecuted if we are living as God wants us to live. But we must be sure that our suffering is not due to our own foolishness or disobedience.

 

Ps 90:14

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

 

Lord, I know that I will never be happy until that happiness is focused and founded upon God. Squelch the grumpiness in me! Reset my vision and help me to see things clearly. Then will I be happy. AMEN