Have you ever noticed how some people view religion? When people say that they are spiritual but not religious, they seem to be avoiding a stereotypical image of what being religious means.
And what is this stereotype image?
I think it is the image of a pious person who is bound by strict rules but feels empty deep within. It is the image of self-righteous people with no compassion for others. And it is the image of saints who can do nothing but suffer and become sorrowful in life.
Is this true? Does being religious mean that we should only expect suffering and sorrow for ourselves and for our loved ones? Does God love us more the more that we endure pain and run away from happiness?
I think this is the biggest misconception that we can have about religion and about God.
God doesn’t want to take away our joy. He simply wants to give us so much more of it!
Our fault is that we are often deceived by initial feelings of pleasure and happiness. We don’t search deeply. We rarely think ahead.
And so we grab the first forbidden fruit that we find thinking this alone would give us happiness. But at what cost? The cost of our life?
Many types of happiness are deceiving. They are like clickbait advertisements meant to lure us in only to fail to deliver what it has promised.
Many of us are angry at God because we see him as someone who isn’t happy with our happiness.
No, you can’t drink too much, that isn’t the holy thing to do. No, you can’t have that relationship, you will only sin. No, you can’t choose yourself, that would be so selfish of you.
All we can hear are the things God forbids us to do, but we fail to see the things he wants to give us in return.
Instead of earthly food, I give you the Bread of Life. Instead of broken relationships, I give you My Eternal Love. Instead of passing amusements, I give you Everlasting Joy!
God is not the enemy of happiness. He just sees the kind of happiness that quickly flies away and leaves us even more empty and broken than before.
Dear child of God, trust your Father in heaven. He knows what is best for you! He alone knows what can make you truly happy in the end.
“So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” – John 16:22 (NRSVCE)
“God knows what is my greatest happiness, but I do not. And the ways by which perfection is reached vary very much; the medicines necessary for our souls are very different from each other. Thus God leads us by strange ways; we know He wills our happiness, but we neither know what our happiness is, nor the way. We are blind; left to ourselves we should take the wrong way; we must leave it to Him.”― John Henry Newman
You may also want to read “Can You Imagine The Ecstasy Of The Holy Saints?”
You may also want to get Jocelyn’s e-book “What Should You Look Forward To In Heaven?”
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In