Today I was having to ask people research questions for class. One question was "On a scale of 1-5 how happy are you?"I got plenty of different answers, but countless times before the answer I would hear, "well, it depends on the day."

One of my all time favorite TV shows is One Tree Hill. In one episode Julian Baker made a statement that has stuck with me for years. "Happiness is a mood and it's a condition. Not a destination. It's like being tired or hungry. It's not permanent. It comes and goes."

I used to love that thought because we are able to find happiness in many different moments, yet it can be taken away so fast. So, how can we measure one's happiness when it is not static? And is there happiness that never goes away?

During my bible study tonight I was reminded that the answer to the second question is yes.

When I was thinking about my level of happiness I thought about all the things I don't have and what I still want from life. I realized that I was making my happiness dependent on my situation and not my life as a whole. I began to think to myself all the things I do have and the first thing that came to my mind was God and His grace.

You see the things of this world do not create an everlasting happiness, but the promises of God do. And I don't know about you, but for far too long I have been chasing after things that I think will bring me happiness, just to be disappointed in the end.

I immediately began to think about the story of the woman at the well. The samaritan women was lost in her search for fulfillment. She too had taken to the world to find happiness, and not one of her five husbands could provide what she needed. There was not one thing she would ever find to satisfy her deepest needs if she continued to look in the same places.

John 4:13-14 says, "Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give them will never thirst again."

Whoever is looking for happiness from a relationship; you may be temporarily satisfied, but you will have to go looking again.

Whoever is looking for happiness from the perfect body; you may be temporarily satisfied, but you will have to go looking again.

Whoever is looking for happiness from their career; you may be temporarily satisfied, but you will have to go looking again.

You will never stop thirsting for happiness if you continue to try to find it anywhere but from the Lord. That is not to say you won't still have bad days and pain in your life, but in the hard times you will have a bright light to remind you that no matter what is wrong you are deeply loved by the creator of all things.

This was my prayer tonight,

Dear God,
I have been so angry lately. I feel as though I continuously pray for you to guard my heart, to shield me from pain, and only allows the things of your future for me to be present in my life. But tonight I have realized that I have been the one to allow the things of this world to break my heart by placing them above you. I have constantly searched for happiness in every place except for your word. So this is where I change that. I will no longer try to find happiness in my friends, or a boy, or a perfect body. My happiness and fulfillment come from you and your plans for my life. I often make up scenarios and situations and ask you to bless them, but I forget that you have already blessed and created the plans for my future. From now on I will ask "what is next?" instead of telling you my suggestions. Thank you for loving me through the good and the bad. And thank you for always knowing what I need.

I know I am not alone in this. I am not prefect and I fall to the pressures of the world every day. But, my hope is that by sharing my prayer it will remind someone just like me that they deserve everlasting happiness as well.

xoxo,

Mackenzie