Intro: So, how did you make out Christmas morning? I wasn’t here last week. I hope it was a great morning for you. It’s a time that we look forward to for weeks. I know in our house we take the whole month before to look ahead to Christmas day. Now, Christmas is a day we think about gifts: the gift of Jesus, the gift of the Father’s love given to us. But sometimes the gifts we receive from others aren’t that well received.
So, what do you do with a Christmas that’s less than perfect? Often we think that Christmas needs to be picture-perfect to find enjoyment. If anything goes wrong, it spoils the whole mood of the day. I know for our family, things were less than ideal this year. Let me tell you a little about it.
Christmas Eve was a very nice night, and Ronda’s parents spent the night with us. We got up Christmas day, read the scriptures, opened gifts, ate together, and got ready to travel to Ronda’s brother’s house in Ohio. However, the girls went with Ronda’s parents, and we came after. As Ronda and I were driving later, we got talking about the book of Revelation, we missed our turn, and 40 miles later we realized we were in the wrong part of the state. That can easily ruin anyone’s day.
Or on Sunday, when we traveled to my family’s get-together in PA, our “Check Engine” light came on and stayed on from Pittsburg in to Harrisburg. We got it checked out on Tuesday, and $250 later the van was fine.
How about Monday, I woke up feeling like Ronda got out the rolling pin during the night and used it freely on my body. I spent the next two days lying around the house.
How about Tuesday, I went to the doctor, because I saw my tonsils were all swollen and had dozens of white ulcers on them. I thought I was going to have to have my tonsils taken out. Strep throat!
How about Wednesday. Jacqueline had some pimples on her face for a few days. We thought maybe she had oily skin. Wednesday we saw they were getting bigger and spreading. We went to the doctor again. After waiting a few hours to get in, we found the verdict: Impetigo - highly contagious. That meant making changes to our plans, and skipping visiting several friends in PA.
Do you begin to get the idea that our Christmas celebrations were less than ideal? That’s okay. This morning I would like us to realize that life does not have to be “rosy” and “hunky dory” for us to find enjoyment in it. Let’s think about this together.
Mary and Joseph - hardly had ideal conditions for their Christmas celebration. They had to travel on Christmas eve in heavy traffic. In fact, when they stopped for a motel, they were all full, and they had to settle for a bed and bone in a stable. That didn’t stop them from fulfilling God’s plans. In fact, it was all a part of God’s plan. He chose to have the King of Kings born in a humble setting. He chose to have the shepherds come and worship. It wasn’t a mistake. It was all part of God’s plan.
Think about Moses and the children of Israel traveling through the wilderness. Each day they got up and had manna to eat. They just had to go out and pick it off the ground. They could have complained -- and believe me, they did!-- but it was all part of God’s plan of teaching them to rely on his faithfulness.
Think about Joseph - taken to Egypt in slavery - serving in the house of Potiphar. When seduced by Potipar’s wife, Joseph resists and is thrown in jail. While in jail, it would be easy to think that God had forgotten, but even there God blesses him and lets him prosper. He is raised out of jail to be second in the land under Pharaoh. As his brothers come down to buy grain and Joseph reveals himself to them, they are fearful that he will take revenge. But Joseph tells them not to fear, but that God had taken what they meant to be evil and had turned it around to bring about good.
This morning, let’s ask ourselves the question, “Where do we find happiness?”
Let’s look together this morning at Ecclesiastes 2. The book right after the Psalms and Proverbs. Starting at 2:26. READ 2:26 - 3:14.
What do these verses tell us about happiness? First,
I. Happiness is a Gift from God - Far too often we try to achieve happiness. Yet the Bible never tells us to try to be happy. Happiness is not a goal to be achieved, but a blessing to be enjoyed.
II. Happiness comes from faithfulness - 3:12 tells us that happiness comes in line with obedience. These verses remind me of the words of Paul In 1 Tim. 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain. The problem we se in the world today is that too many people are content but not being godly. In the church, often we will be godly, but not be content about it: we like to let God and others know what a sacrifice we are giving for God. Yet what God desires is contentment and godliness.
Think back to your Christmas gifts: if you are godly and content, it won’t matter who did or didn’t give you a gift; You won’t be rushing back to the store to exchange your gifts you didn’t like.
The Christian who learns to be content is a rich person.
Let’s look back at Ecclesiastes.
III. Happiness is found in right focus: enjoying the day to day events of life.
Verse 13 - Far too often we set ourselves up for failure by expecting a picture-perfect holiday. Yet, what we should really be focusing on is how every day we can find happiness. It is the every day things that really make us happy. A smile when you walk in the door, a hug when you’re feeling lonely, a call to ask how you are doing. If each one of us would show more care in the day to day events of life, how much more happiness we could have.
I forget where I heard this story: it might have been one of you. A young family was out at a restaurant with their two toddlers eating spaghetti. The kids were getting it all over, and the parents were frustrated. An older man walked by, on his way out of the restaurant, and paused long enough to say, “One of these days you’ll look back on these days and smile and think how wonderful they were.”
We fail to find happiness in the day to day events of life.
Happiness comes from God. Happiness is found in faithfulness. Happiness is found in a right focus on the daily events of our lives. And finally,
IV. Happiness is found in acknowledging the plan of God in our lives.
Verse 14 reminds us that it is the plan of God that abides forever. As we look at our lives, the utmost question should be “What is God trying to accomplish.” Or as the bracelets say, WWJD - What Would Jesus Do? When we know that God is at work in our lives, it really doesn’t matter how bad our situation might seem. We know that he is in control.
Isaiah was given a message from God - he was told to give it to the nation of Israel, but God told him they wouldn’t listen to him. Yet he was to give it to them anyways. Moses was told to go back to Egypt where he had killed a man: yet, he was willing to go there because he knew it was God’s will. Paul went to Jerusalem, even though he was warned that once he got there he would be bound up with ropes.
Happiness comes in knowing we are in the center of the will of God.
There is nothing as conducive to happiness as knowing you are right where God wants you to be. It doesn’t matter if you are driving a rambler and living in a trailer eating canned spaghetti. If you know you are where God wants you to be, you will be happy.
Concl: So, let me tell you the end of our story. The van is fixed, running better than ever. My parents gave some money towards repairs. Ronda’s dad called up and said he had some extra money come in unexpectedly and he was sharing some with us. My throat is better. Jacqueline’s sickness is better. We are all getting healthy again. And we know that God continues to work in our lives. We had some wonderful gifts for Christmas, and we felt love from many. We know that God is still at work. And we will find our happiness in enjoying the day to day events of our lives. I hope you will join us in this as well.
Maybe your Christmas wasn’t ideal. That’s okay.
Remember happiness is a gift from God - pray for it.
Remember happiness comes from faithfulness - follow God’s way.
Remember happiness come from a right focus - look for it every day.
Remember happiness comes from seeing God’s plan - look beyond your own agendas for the hand of God.
Shall we pray!
