Wisdom, Success, and Happiness?

Recently I was asked the questions; “            What is wisdom?”  “How can I be successful?”  and “How can I be happy with all the problems and pain that I have?”

I really didn’t realize that anyone viewed me as wise, successful, and happy. 

After retiring from my position with the Federal Government I became a stay at home dad with two grade school age children that I home school.

My income is modest to say the least. I don’t have any close long time friends that I stay in touch with.

All of my blood relatives live two thousand miles away so we seldom see each other.

I have chronic pain and nerve damage resulting from a fight I lost with a rattlesnake.

I have major pain and fatigue daily and I struggle to do even simple tasks in my life.

So, why are these people coming to me and asking how to be wise, successful, and happy?

Recently, our family was visiting my wife’s relatives who live nearby.

Some of her family members who were going though a crisis asked her, “How is your family so happy and care free all the time with all the problems you have?”

The answer to these questions in my opinion, are answered by Jesus in the Holy Bible.

Jesus said, “I am the truth, and the life, and the way.”  He wasn’t just trying to be poetic when he said this. He was stating that he was the true way to wisdom, success, and happiness.

Jesus was God born into flesh, who came to teach us how to live and to also save us from Satan and ourselves.  And I didn’t just make this up. Jesus said it himself.

Not everyone agrees with this, but because he said it himself, and because he said this that leaves us with only two possible points of views. 

We have to choose, one, that he was God in the flesh aka, “The Son of God.”

 Or, two, he was a raving lunatic, and the greatest con artist that ever lived.

So if God loves us and wants the best for us why do we have so much pain and problems in our lives?

Well, Jesus said to rejoice when we have problems because it is an opportunity express out faith and trust.

Why do we want to express our faith and trust?

Because it shows God that we really believe he exists and that we want him to intervene in our lives.

God loves us and desires to bless us in every way, but because we have been given free choice in our lives we have to ask him to intervenes in our lives.  

So how we view problems and respond to them either “Makes us or breaks us.”

The way we decide to look at our crisis determines whether we will be happy and successful or defeated and depressed.

We have been blessed with the freedom to choose.  It’s all up to us. 

We can choose to have the point of view that God loves us and that he is working for our happiness and success.

Or we can choose the point of view that only we are in control of what happens and only we can change it.

Again, God offers his help to us, but we have to ask him to come and intervene in our lives.

And when you have that kind of connection to that kind of “power” how can you not be happy?