Equipped for Happiness

Are you happy?

My church is finishing up a summer teaching series on “Happy Songs.” We’ve studied several Psalms (songs), which tell us how to be blessed (happy).

I was thinking about all this, and do you know what came to mind? A lego guy. Yep, this guy right here.

I realized I am like this lego dude. On my own, I am pretty ill-equipped. While he looks pretty happy right now (everything is awesome, right?), he probably won’t be so happy if he encounters any challenges. He’s not very impressive. He is pretty helpless and vulnerable. Incomplete. Like me.

Also like me, he doesn’t have to stay this way. God offers us the tools we need to be happy. Inspired by the Happy Songs study, I started digging through Psalms to find what’s available to us.

Guess what? God offers us everything we need. We just have to accept it. It’s there for the taking, if we are willing to put it on. We can be transformed. We will be fully equipped for whatever comes our way. As we are told in Ephesians 6:10-13 –

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

When we can’t stand, and we lose this struggle, we lose our happiness.

What is this happiness-protecting armor?

Ephesians 6:14-17

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Breaking this down, we find the essential tools for happiness. Reaching back to the Psalms to equip ourselves, we find:

Truth: Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Righteousness: Psalm 112:6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.

The Good News: Psalm 22: 29-31

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

 Faith: Psalm 25:1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 

Salvation: Psalm 62:1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

The Word: Psalm 119:16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Praise the Lord I can look like this instead!

Fully armed, I can be ready to battle whatever comes my way. You can too!

Are you fully equipped today? Which picture are you?

Which do you want to be?

It’s easy to let down our defenses. We think we’ll be fine on our own. But, our happiness is quickly stolen when we aren’t equipped with God’s armor to protect it.

Get geared up!