Driven Part 2

After giving this idea a bit of thought, I think I agree a lot with Mr. Ken.  To simplify what I think, I would say we are driven by wanting to be happy.

Strange thing to admit, but happiness drives me also.  I have tried to deny this for a long time, trying to be "holier than thou", but the truth is I am driven by happiness just as much as the next guy.  I am not driven by some kind of spiritual force that overrides everything I do.  My faith in God changes what I believe will make me happy but my desire to be happy has not disappeared.  If I choose to go get a cup of coffee it is because I think drinking a cup will make me happy.  If I go to school for two years it is because I think the outcome will lead me to happiness.  Even if I choose to give up my home, wealth, and friends to serve God in a foreign country, I do it because I think that by sacrificing these things will bring me happiness through a sense of purpose, by God's gifts to me, by the simple belief that helping someone is worth while.  Happiness drives us to extraordinary feats of bravery and foolishness alike.  Ecclesiastes 10:2

Why does the business man forsake his family and work eighty hours a week?  Is it because he hates his job?  Is it because he desires to destroy relationships for the sake of a dollar?  I don't think so.  I believe that he thinks sacrificing family time and relationships to be a provider or gain wealth for himself will somehow make him happy.  Luke 12

Some of us need to know we are useful.  Some need to know that they are needed.  Some need a limit to break, a goal to exceed.  Some need physical comfort.  We all need something and we think that when we finally attain that need, we will be truly happy.  Happiness can drive us to do great things and accomplish a lot in our lives.  It can drive us to strive to spread the Kingdom of God, to preach, teach, disciple, and intercede.  It can also lead us to strive for something completely useless in an improper manner.  The desire can lead us to run down wrong roads and do selfish, useless, and destructive things in an attempt to falsely satisfy our happiness.

God can use happiness.  One may say that joy is happiness realized.  Even if I am not currently happy with my circumstances, I can be joyful because I know that the outcome of my predicaments will lead to eternal happiness.  Romans 8:18-19

Look at your actions and the actions of those around you.  Do those actions lead to a desire to be happy one way or another?   The path may be skewed and incorrect, but is the intention to seek happiness?

Joshua