There is a great deal in this world that we often delight in more than we do God. I know that to be the case for myself; forgive me if I am speaking out of turn concerning you. The reality is when we delight in lesser things over God, our hearts and minds get cloudy, and we cannot even rightly discern what it is we desire.
Inversely, when God is our great delight, and we embrace the wisdom of David's words, then either God will fulfil those dreams we have, or our hearts will shift toward even greater dreams because our desires will be more God-directed rather than me-directed.
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When we face prolonged tragedy or trauma, the first thing we lose is our ability to dream. I know that is a hefty start, and I earnestly hope it is in no way triggering for any of you. It is, though, factually and anecdotally true. Prolonged tragedy or trauma robs us of our ability to dream, think that things can or will get better, or imagine the world differently or changed. If you study the psychology of survivors—dateline seems to cover something like this regularly—you will see this as a theme.
The heightened stress response, over a long period of time, causes us to push so much of our mental and emotional faculties toward enduring or surviving that the creative, forward-thinking, exploratory parts of our mind turn off almost out of necessity.
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Typical of most pastors, I have done my fair share of weddings. And typical of many weddings, 1 Corinthians 13 was read at several of them by either the bride or the groom or both, or a family member or friend. In other words, this "love poem" of the bible, or the "love chapter", has probably been read at more weddings than it has been preached in churches.
The regular use of this passage in wedding ceremonies has probably linked it so strongly in your mind with flowers, kisses, and dresses that as we read it together, you were thinking about the last time you heard it… at a wedding. Maybe not.
At one of these many weddings I have officiated, it hit me hard—these two have no idea what they are actually saying to each other in reading these words. They have no earthly idea what they are in for, especially when each realises that the words they are reading are not feelings that can be conjured but commitments of will that they must cultivate.
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In the previous post, I shared with you that you can maximise your happiness by making a difference in your home (area one) and by making a difference in your church (area 2). Home and church are two of five areas in which you can serve others, make a difference, and maximise your happiness. Today I want to share with you three other areas where you can make a difference, and it will maximise your happiness and change someone else's life.
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In our final two installments of this blog series on happiness, we come to what is likely the most counterintuitive truth in the world, especially for self-focused westerners like you and me—we are most happy when we serve others. We are most happy when we are serving others. There is a mountain of scientific research that affirms this truth, on which we will certainly touch, but I want to first share with you my awakening to this understanding.
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"Sir, give me this water—she exclaims—so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Feel her words… I will never have to keep coming here to draw water. Her words, and the context, tell the pain of her story. There is a seemingly minor detail at the very start of John's account that is easily read past, and it shapes so much of what was happening in her life. It was about noon when Jesus arrived at the Well.
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At the close of 1938, Europe was on the brink of war. Hitler's intent to "cleanse Europe" of all Jewish people was cemented, and the infamous Munich pact or Munich agreement essentially gave Hitler carte blanche to march his armies into Czechoslovakia.
Enter Nicholas Winton, a twenty-nine-year-old stockbroker from London. Shortly before Christmas 1938, Winton planned to travel to Switzerland for a skiing holiday. Following a call for help from Marie Schmolka and Doreen Warriner, he decided instead to visit Prague and help Martin Blake, who was in Prague as an associate of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, then in the process of being occupied by Germany.
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