And the eternal Word of God teaches us that “Even in laughter the
heart may ache” (Proverbs 14:13). Don’t tell me of smiling and
laughing faces: I want to hear of something more than that when I
ask whether a man is happy. A truly happy man no doubt will
often show his happiness in his face; but a man may have a very
merry face and yet not be happy at all.
Of all deceptive things on earth nothing is so deceptive as mere
fun and cheerfulness. It is a hollow empty show, utterly devoid
of substance and reality. Listen to the brilliant talker in
society, and mark the applause which he receives from an company:
follow him to his own private room, and you will very likely find
him plunged in sad despondency. I know a man who confessed that
even when he was thought to be most happy he often wished that he
were dead. Look at the smiling beauty at the party, and you
might suppose she never knew what it was like to be unhappy; see
her the next day at her own home, and you may probably find her
angry at herself and everybody else besides. No, worldly fun is
not real happiness! There is a certain pleasure about it, I do
not deny. There is an animal excitement about it, I make no
question. There is a temporary elevation of spirits about it, I
freely concede. But don’t call it by the sacred name of
happiness. The most beautiful cut flowers stuck in the ground do
not make a garden. When ordinary glass is called diamond, and
tinsel is called gold, then, and not till then can people who can
laugh and smile be called happy men. Once there was a man who
consulted a physician about his depression. The physician
advised him to keep up his spirits by going to hear the great
comic actor of the day. “You should go and hear Matthews. He
will make you good.” “Sorry to say, sir,” was the reply, “I am
Matthews himself!”
To be truly happy “the highest wants of a man’s nature must be
met and satisfied.” The requirements of his curiously wrought
constitution must be all met. There must be nothing about him
that cries, “Give, give,” but cries in vain and gets no answer.
Animals are happy as long as they are warm and fed. The little
infant looks happy when it is clothed, and fed, and well, and in
its mother’s arms. And why? Because it is satisfied. And just
so it is with man. His highest wants must be met and satisfied
before he can be truly happy. All needs must be met. There must
be no void, no empty places, no unsupplied cravings. Till then
he is never truly happy.
And what are “man’s principal wants?” Does he only have a body?
No: he has something more! He has a soul. Does he only have the
five senses? Can he do nothing but hear, and see, and smell, and
taste, and feel? No: he has a thinking mind and a conscience!
Does he have any consciousness of any world but that in which he
lives and moves? He has. There is still a small voice within
him which often makes itself heard: “That this is not all there
is to life! There is world unseen: there is a life beyond the
grave.” Yes! it is true. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
All men know it: all men feel it, if they would only speak the
truth. It is utter nonsense to pretend that food and clothing
and earthly material wealth alone can make men happy. The soul
has needs. There are needs of the conscience. There can be no
true happiness until these wants are satisfied.
To be truly happy “a man must have sources of happiness which are
not dependent on anything in this world.” There is nothing on
earth which is not stamped with the mark of instability and
uncertainty. All the good things that money can buy are but for
a moment: they either leave us or we are obliged to leave them.
All the sweetest relationships in life are liable to come to an
end: death may come any day and cut them off. The man whose
happiness depends entirely on things here below is like him who
builds his house on sand.
Don’t tell me of your happiness if it daily depends on the
uncertainties of the earth. Your home may be rich in comforts;
your wife and children may be all you could desire; your incomes
may be amply sufficient to meet all your wants. But oh,
remember, if you have nothing more than this to look to, that you
are standing on the edge of a cliff! You joy may be deep and
earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is
not true happiness.
To be really happy “a man must be able to look at every part of
his life without uncomfortable feelings.” He must be able to
look at the past without guilty fears; he must be able to look
around him without discontent; he must be able to look forward
without anxious dread. He must be able to sit down and think
calmly about things past, present, and to come, and feel
prepared. The man who has a weak side in his condition–a side
that he does not like looking at or considering–that man is not
really happy.
Do not talk to me of your happiness, if you are unable to look
steadily either before or behind you. Your present position may
be easy and pleasant. You may find many sources of joy and
gladness in your profession, your dwelling-place, your family,
and your friends. Your health may be good, your spirits may be
cheerful. But stop and think quietly over your past life. Can
you reflect calmly on all the omissions and commissions of by-
gone years? How will they bear God’s inspection? How will you
answer for them at the last judgment? And then look forward and
think on the years yet to come. Think of the certain end towards
which you are heading; think of death; think of judgment; think
of the hour when you will meet God face to face. Are you ready
for it? Are you prepared? Can you look forward to these things
without alarm? Oh, be very sure if you cannot look comfortably
at any time in your life but the present, then your boasted
happiness is a poor unreal thing! It is but a fancy and
decorated coffin–fair and beautiful on the outside, but nothing
but bones and decay within. It is a mere thing of a day, like
Jonah’s gourd. It is not real happiness.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
