“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” ~ C.S. Lewis
John Michael Talbot put into song, “Only in God is my soul at rest. In Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock, my strength and my salvation.” Lewis indicates the same thing when he tells us that peace and happiness are found in God and God alone.
To the Christian, that is something that sounds so intuitive. Yes, God alone is our source of happiness and peace. Yes, there can be no one other than He who provides us with all that we need. Why, then, do we often look to others?
Advent gives us the opportunity to reset our priorities. Too often in our lives we stray from the path that leads to the Kingdom and begin to go down other paths, paths that could lead to our ruin and destruction. It always begins when we take our eyes off the Lord and begin to believe that other people or things can bring us fulfillment.
The world is really good at promoting that message. The world, steeped in sin, would like nothing more than to lead us away from Christ. The world would promise us anything in order to get our attention.
Truth be told, the world has some really great lures and can also fulfill some stupendous promises. The only problem is that all the rewards of the world are temporary. As grand and glorious as they may appear, those rewards will fade with the world since they are rooted in time and not in eternity.
The world can promise — and even deliver — fame and fortune. But what good would fame and fortune do for us if we were to lose our immortal souls in the process of going after those worldly rewards. They may be flashy but they cannot guarantee eternal life.
One of the reasons it is so hard to focus solely on the Lord and reject the promises of the world is that the world is all around us and in our faces. Many of our family and friends even may have bought into the promises of the world.
When we try to focus on the Lord, we are very much going counter-cultural not only to the world but to those we hold close and dear in the world. All the more reason to focus diligently on the Lord so that we can be an example to loved ones who may have drifted from the path that leads to the Kingdom and immersed themselves in the promises of the world.
God is the only source of happiness and peace. Don’t ever be ashamed of pursuing Him.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God for the grace not to look to anyone or anything else but Him for peace, security, and happiness.