A while back in Sabbath School, we discussed how students should choose what field of study they wanted to pursue. Someone suggested that students should be encouraged to study something they have a passion for. I agree. Where the problem lies, for me anyway, is where is that passion? As a small child, I wanted to be a veterinarian. As I grew up, I realized veterinarians had to take care of not just cats but all kinds of animals and perform various not so glamorous tasks. Looking back to my high school self, I can tell you that by the world’s standards I was not smart in the decisions I made regarding my future. I was only considering the here and now instead of considering retirement, whether I wanted to be able to afford a house, a car, etc. So when I went to college, I had not done any research on what careers make money nor where I wanted to work after school. I also didn’t really have a passion for anything and instead choose something that my teachers in high school said I was fairly good at. If I knew then what I know now, my life path would have been very different. But would it have made me any happier?
What is the key to happiness? People have struggled with finding the answer to this question as well as what the meaning of life is for probably all time. Finding the answer is not hard. Accepting it is. The key is to focus your life on the Lifegiver. It’s that easy. As Christians, our first “job” on this earth is as disciples of the Lord and all of our major life decisions should consider this fact. If doing the will of God IS your passion, then whether you make a lot of money or find yourself doing a job you would rather not do will matter less than if you were living solely to please yourself. There are numerous people who struggle with happiness. Whether it is their job, their health, their spouse, their children, their friends, their living situation, or even just themselves in general. In the past several months, it has become abundantly clear to me that suicide is on the rise. A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released in June of 2018 said that suicide rates are 30% higher now than in 1999. Why are we so unhappy? Highland County is not exempt. I remember years ago when I was a senior at Highland High that the janitor decided to retire that year. A few years later he committed suicide. I took a call at the church where I work this past May, the police officer on the phone told me one of the church members had committed suicide and the man’s wife was asking for the pastor to come be with her. This past week a coworker said that a friend of his, whose wife had died, basically told him that after he finalized her grave that he was “done.” I told my coworker that he needed to go and talk to this man, give him encouragement and my coworker said he didn’t know how since he would feel the same way. Friends I’m going to call this an epidemic. What do we do? I’ve read things online about reaching out to others and making sure they know that other people care for them. That’s all well and good, however, this only address the symptoms of the real problem. And that problem is that aside from God there is no reason to live.
“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” --1 Corinthians 15:12-19
We must keep the end result of everything that happens here on Earth in focus otherwise we would simply live and die and have no real purpose or hope. But when each and every person is important to God and He calls us to minister to others because of our love for Him and what He has done for us, then our lives will focus on what is truly important. And someone might say, but what about all the pastors who end their lives are they not living for God? Following the will of God is not the same as following what church members think their pastors should be doing. As someone who works for a church, I can tell you that not just the church I work for but I would say all churches are made up of sinners. And not all those sinners consider whether what they say to the pastor or the church staff is in alignment with the will of God. And those sinners need to realize that the pastor and the church staff… are also sinners! Even if the church leadership was perfect, people would still find something to be upset or unhappy about. Remember not everyone loved Jesus. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the devil works the hardest against those actively doing the will of God. And when pastors commit suicide, the devil has succeeded probably through the actions and words of the very people the pastor is trying to serve, just like many of the prophets.
God answered my prayers in helping me to find my current job. Now, as with all jobs, there are parts I don’t like and over the past couple of years I’ve grown increasingly unhappy. The devil has prodded me with thoughts that I don’t need to be dwelling on and filling me with ingratitude. And I realized within the past week or so that my focus has gotten off or perhaps it was never “right” to begin with. Jesus was one of the poorest people on the planet but in the eyes of God He is richer than all of us. What is the focus of my life? In the next week or so I plan to meet with a man who is searching for truth. He contacted me because he was interested in finding out about the Episcopalian faith. I told him I was actually a Seventh-day Adventist but I could certainly have the pastor meet with him. He then said he would like to learn about my faith too. If I had any other job, I would have missed this chance. The Lord has put me in a prime place for witnessing, and I honestly have squandered that blessing. Taking the time to look beyond myself to the purposes of God made me realize that true happiness comes from serving Him and His mission, if only I can remind myself of that when the devil tempts me to be unsatisfied. So whatever stage of life you are in remember to Whom your first love belongs and encourage others that they too are loved by an Almighty Creator. He has a purpose for their life and yours. May we all see each other with God’s eyes.