What Makes You Happy?

10.20.19 Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

Are you happy? Do you enjoy your life? A part of the American dream is entwined within our Declaration of Independence where it declares,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This appears to be the standard of life in our generation. Am I happy or not? Another question will then be, “What will it take to make you happy if you’re not happy?” Or “Why aren’t you happy?”

One of the things that strikes me about the show Fixer Upper is the genuine happiness that flows between Chip and Joanna. They seem to have so much fun together. Is it just a show? Or are they happy because they are so successful? Do you see something like that and say, “I wish I had that?” What does it take to get that?

Solomon tried to find happiness through achievement and pleasure. He wrote in chapter 2,

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my work,

and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

nothing was gained under the sun.

He was happy for a while, but then after it was all said and done, he was sad. Remember, this was a man who had about 700 wives and 300 concubines. He purportedly wrote this in his older age. Nobody could accuse him of not trying to live life to the fullest. But that didn’t cut it for him.

This writing has a number of factors that affect happiness or also cause sadness. Let’s look at the first one -

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

One thing that angers people is the greed of government officials. Look at how government officials today make about 150,000 dollars a year but end up with millions in their bank accounts. How does this happen? It happens through corruption and greed and kickbacks for favors. This enrages so many people who don’t get any of the breaks. But Solomon says, “don’t be surprised at such things.” When you follow politics too closely it can drive you mad. You’ll want to point out this injustice and then the next. Listen to Glenn Beck some time and he always talks about blood coming from his eyes. Part of the lesson here is, “What do you expect?” Another point is, “What can you do about it?” What good does it do you to get all outraged over things that are beyond your control?

The second point is, even if you could get more just like they do - would it make you happy? Solomon says,

10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;

whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.

This too is meaningless.

Think of Solomon. You would think that after have five wives or ten wives (women were married to build coalitions with other governments), that sooner or later he would have said, “that’s enough.” But it wasn’t. It went to 100, then 200, then 300, then 400. It was never enough.

What about with you? How much money do you need to retire? How many improvements do you really need in your home? When will you be happy with what you have? You could think about this in all kinds of contexts. Your child makes the football team. He even starts. They have a good team. He has six tackles, but he missed three. They lost the game because they were beat by a better team. So he’s angry and sullen, and so are you. You’re angry with the plays. Your angry with the calls. Even if they win the conference, will that be enough? No, they have to win the State! Replace money with updates, wins, raises. The old word for it used to be mammon - stuff. Unhappiness often comes from that little word called “more.”

11 As goods increase,

so do those who consume them.

And what benefit are they to the owner

except to feast his eyes on them?

12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,

whether he eats little or much,

but the abundance of a rich man

permits him no sleep.

Even if your goods do increase, what good are they if you can’t enjoy them? You have a freezer full of food, but what do you do with it? Half of it gets freezer burnt and you have to throw it away. The more that’s in there the more you have to push to the side when you’re trying to find what you want. The rich man spends more time trying to maintain what he has or protect what he has than actually enjoying it. I think of a swimming pool. I don’t want a swimming pool. My neighbor has a perfectly fine one that they let me and the kids swim in for free. I don’t have to maintain it. I don’t have to fill it with water. I don’t have to fix it. Why would I want to pay for the luxury of having it in my backyard? I don’t want it that badly. If you spend your money on lots of stuff, what good does it end up doing you if you just have to insure it and you can’t enjoy it.