Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi

 Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like everyone is just going through it right now… For so many different reasons, It’s almost like everyone that I have had conversations with recently feels sad (me included)… The other night me and a couple of my friends went on a late-night drive and turned on Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi. And as we were screaming the same  chorus that I have probably listened to a hundred plus times, one part of the song stuck out to me this time...  Kid Cudi sings in the song, “I'm on the Pursuit of Happiness… I’ll be fine once I get it.” And I thought how that is literally how I find myself living my life when times get hard lately. Something crappy happens and I automatically start searching for anything to make me happy. But the truth is, when we aren’t ok and start to just try and fill our sadness with whatever is going to make us “happy” in that moment, it never works. Ever. And I know this from personal experience.

Yeah maybe for a day or two you feel okay, but then it fades, and your back to that place of sadness you started in. If we live life like Kid Cudi suggests in this song, the end of our “pursuit” will never end in eternal happiness. It will end in temporary and superficial acceptance and happiness, and you will be right back to the dark place you were trying to get out of in the first place. The ONLY way to true Joy is through Jesus Christ. Relationships fail. The buzz fades. The sex stops satisfying. The gossip gets old. The party life gets boring. The sport gets hard. But what remains? What never changes? God's promise. His promise that His love for you is unconditional, His grace is boundless, the Joy He grants you is your strength, and most importantly that His sacrifice on the cross extends to you in your darkest moments.

The moment when the boy or girl that you're talking to loses interest, He calls you beloved. When you look in the mirror and feel like you're not skinny enough, He calls you fearfully and wonderfully made. When you have drama with your friends, He offers you peace. And when your situation is draining your happiness he says that the Joy we find in Him and from Him is our strength!

The thing is, the hard times will come. We live in a broken world, that is broken because of the sin that WE brought into it. And because of this brokenness, hard times happen. But despite all our sin and the filthiness of this world, our Savior still extends out His arms to us… A PERFECT Savior embraces our imperfect being, living in a dirty world… And not only does He reach out for us in these hard times, but calls us worthy, makes us clean, and offers us JOY. 

This world will tell you to do whatever will make you happy in that moment… But what happens when the moment is over? 

The Devil wants nothing more than to distract you from what will fulfill your Joy for the rest of your life. He wants you to “do what feels good” and “what makes you happy”... He wants you for the 60, 70, 80, maybe even 90 years on this earth to be in a constant “pursuit of happiness”... But we don't have to live like this!! We can have a consistent and constant source of Joy that is NEVER-CHANGING! NO MATTER WHAT! 

This life throws a lot of crap at us… failed relationships, broken friendships, injured bodies, and a lot of other things that come from a broken world. But He knew about it all. And so when He thought about that hard time that you were going to go through that feels impossible, or the season of depression and anxiety that you're having to live through, or the relationship that seems to have broken your heart into a million pieces, He took it for you. A Sovereign and Perfect Savior took it ALL for you. He thought of how much He loved you, and how bad He desired to take your burdens, and so he was whipped, beat, spit on, mocked, and nailed to a cross… All so you don’t have to be in a Pursuit of Happiness all the time.

His sacrifice on the cross bought you eternal salvation and eternal Joy. Through His death, He conquered life, death, all the good times, and all the bad times too. He has gone before you, He is with you, and He has gone after you. 

But even after all of this, He leaves it up to you... He gives you the freedom to make your own choice. One choice leads to ignoring the sacrifice that He made for you, and a tireless pursuit of temporary happiness in this life… The other choice leads to a purposeful life even in the hard times, and ETERNAL and CONSTANT joy. 

Stop being on the “Pursuit of Happiness”. It leads to nothing, and you will not “be fine once you get it”... Put away the lies of “happiness” that the Devil has whispered to you, and just accept the gift of Joy the Lord has given to you for FREE! It cost Him His life, and it cost us nothing. 

Don't pursue happiness. Pursue the Lord and you will find everlasting Joy.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 103:1-5

As if the gift of the cross wasn't enough.  As if the sacrifice of His own life wasn’t a great enough display of affection.  My Jesus reaches even further.  He extends His arm of compassion even deeper into my soul.  He Himself is forgiveness in the fullest form.  He didn't despise or reject the lesser evils in my life.   His death was the price for all iniquity.  All my sin. Forgiven.  In full.  The magnitude of my sin was deep, and yet His love for me ran deeper.  Bless the Lord oh my soul.  The washing of my sin, the removal of my transgression.  My brain can't comprehend this kind of mercy.  But He doesn't end this flow of grace at the cross.  His concern does not only consist of my forgiveness.  He wants to heal me.  He cares about every single fiber of my being.  If my soul was sick, I have been made well.  If my body has been bruised by the weight of my iniquity, then I have been healed...
Read more

The Lame Beggar

  Acts 3:1-10 1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the tem...
Read more

A Hungry Heart

  I have these instincts.  These things that are woven into the fabric of my being. It’s like this-  When I'm hungry, I anticipate the next meal that I get to partake in.  I know that the solution to this hunger in the pit of my stomach will be solved by the nutrients found in a meal.  My stomach growls.  My mouth waters.  My brain races with the flavors of the food.  I anticipate it.  I know the food is real.  It's there.  It's tangible.  And so the actions that I make until now and my meal are reflective of the simple fact that I trust it will satisfy me.  The meal is coming.  And so, I move through my task a little faster.  I prepare the ingredients.  I plate the meal.  I prepare to eat.  It's what I need.  And I trust that this is the solution for the groaning in my stomach.  My soul does this sometimes.  It's this groaning in the pit of my heart.  And I know it's a longing ...
Read more