Be Happy
Proverbs 3:13-18
Some time ago I was talking with someone younger than me. It was a typical conversation about hard times and struggles. But then he said something I found curious. Basically, the idea was that his generation found encouragement in hearing how others struggle too. I asked him if he meant it’s encouraging to see that others struggle but face it and find their way through it? No, he said, it’s more that it’s encouraging to see we’re all miserable together. Apparently if I’m not happy it is encouraging to know you’re not happy either.
Is that really where we’ve landed? Have we set the bar so low that what encourages us is that the next guy is as miserable as we are? I think for many people that is where they’re at. They’ve resigned themselves to a life of misery as if there is no alternative.
But what if it doesn’t have to be that way? What if there really is an alternative? I’m reminded of a trip to India. There are people there who live and work in a rock quarry. They have never left that quarry. They grow up there, live there and die there. They literally have no idea that life doesn’t have to be that way. They don’t know there are oceans and mountains and rainforests and snow. They simply don’t know what they don’t know.
It seems to me too many people are like that in our culture today. They have settled into their misery and dysfunction as if there is no alternative. There is no way out. But lady wisdom calls to them. She offers a better path. Happiness is possible. There may be more to this life than you know.
How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways And all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.
The word translated blessed means happy. Who’s happy? The person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. How do we do that? We learned in week 7 to make your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding (2:1,2). You have to want it.
Rather than rolling over and giving up, we need to seek after lady wisdom like buried treasure. Why? Because her value is more than silver or gold, more precious than jewels. There’s nothing life offers that has more value than her. She offers long life, and riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant and all her paths are peace (flourishing). She is a tree of life and happy are those who take hold of her.
A secular or natural worldview has nothing to offer people. Life is what it is, misery and all. It’s a bit like the lottery and most simply receive a losing ticket. Sorry loser, no hope here. But a Christian worldview is not like that. It’s not hopeless. There is a way out. Everything lady wisdom offers is what people today are searching for. It’s the pot at the end of the rainbow.
If true life and happiness do not exist, where do these longings come from? Isn’t it true that our deepest longings correspond to reality? In other words, I thirst because water exists. I hunger because food exists. Therefore, if I long for love and meaning wouldn’t that indicate that such things exist? Where would those deep desires originate if they don’t correspond with some reality.
We were made for something different and something more. This world is broken. We feel it deeply which is why something deep within us is so dissatisfied. But the answer is not to roll over and give up as if there is no alternative. It’s to cling to lady wisdom and listen to what she has to say.
What was so curious to me about the conversation I had with that young man was that he was a Christian. He wasn’t an atheist, agnostic or secularist. Yet, he has been so influenced by the culture around him he’d lost sight of the truth. His view of the Christian life had deteriorated into, “Yes, it’s miserable but at least we can be miserable together.” As they say, misery loves company.
Far too many Christians are settling for far less than God intended. The happiness our souls long for is not dependent on circumstances. Everything does not have to be good for you to be happy. It’s about understanding what matters and what doesn’t and where life is found. It’s about a resolute determination to walk the path God calls us to.
This proverb isn’t so much about how to do that as much as believing it can be done. The life you long for is possible. Happiness can happen. Step one is to believe a tree of life is available to those who take hold of lady wisdom.
For this week, meditate on what this week’s proverb promises. Either it’s true or it’s not. If the Bible is a book of lies, then close it up and plan on being miserable. But if you believe God tells the truth then roll up your sleeves and commit yourself to finding wisdom and gaining understanding. Trust me, it’s not easy but the rewards of lady wisdom are worth it.