The Secret to Happiness.

So many search and seek for this. They look for happiness in a bottle, a person, a job or a place. But truly...the happiness lies deeper within. And when we know who created our souls we can trust the way to get there.

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Psalm 16

The Lord is my chosen portion and cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Did you catch it? It's right there. The secret to happiness, to fullness of joy and to peace. It contradicts all that the world says, it won't add up to our culture's ways, but if you can get this you will unlock more joy, more peace and more contentment you will have ever felt. 

So cling to this dear friend. Memorize and hold this tight. Here lies the reality of it all....

1. The Lord has given us what He sees fit for the journey He has designed for you. You cannot compare your journey to another. Your cup is tailored for your hands to hold, your journey is fit for your feet to walk. Sometimes our cup feels like it is empty, what we have is not enough, we need this person, this job or this house. You say, "God if only I had ____. Then I will be good." But then at times we also believe our cup is overflowing, everything is just too much. Too many responsibilities, you can't do it all. You're flooded with feelings of being overwhelmed and overcome. You say, "Why God? Why all of this?" You see in verse two of this chapter it says, "I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you'." This means you are God and I am not. You know and I don't. You see it all, and I just see right in front of me. And the truth is, anything that doesn't come from God will not satisfy.

2. The boundary lines that you have traced and placed upon my life are beautiful.  The hard, yet good truth of it all is that the Lord has given us what He sees fit for the journey He has designed for each one of us. If we look at the life of another who has that dream house, financial stability we could only wish for, the perfect marriage...do we envy those physical things or is there a deeper heart issue that we think that God loves them more? Because that is the poison, the bitterness that will creep in and separate you from Him.

The thought of Him being able to love some more than others...oh dear friend that is far from the truth. God sees you...just you, and He knows what your soul needs and what could hinder your soul from needing Him. This should bring freedom to us, this pulls you out of the race because it shows you that there is no race...a race for who is the best, who is the most beautiful, no that is the culture. But the Lord, the keeper of your heart, the One who holds it altogether says, "Stop running and accept what I have given you. Don't look to the right or to the left" Verse 7 says, "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken."  Do you have your eyes set on Him?

And here is the ultimate promise, that if we can accept with our whole hearts these things...then we will have JOY and TREASURES FOREVERMORE.

3 There is an adventure that is tailored to me and my life and He will make it known but I must BE WHERE I AM & BE WHO I AM. 

Verse 11, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 

To be in His presence, we must remain in the present. To be who we are means we must BE in the moment, not the future and not the past...but right here in the now.

My prayer for 2017 is for the Lord to unrush me. I know I am missing out when my mind is racing. When I am focused on the To Do's and not the little ones that are begging for my attention, to come and dream, imagine and make believe with them. I am missing out on being near my husband when I scroll through the thousands of pictures of other people's highlight reels because I don't want to feel like I am missing something important. But I am missing everything important by not choosing him.

To be where I am...means to put the phone down and live in a messy house, because a messy house is better than a spotless one with missed children. And to be Who I am...means to stop running and walk the path with my eyes fixed on Him. Because there...right there lies my joy, my peace, and my happiness.