He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: And whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:20 KJV

Hello brothers and sisters, may the peace of the Lord rest upon you for the rest of the day! I am so very glad that the Lord has seen you back once more to my random thoughts. I for one am looking forward to the days ahead in more than one way. I hope to share the changes with all of you and my reasons behind them, which is really the important thing.

I have really been thinking about my obligation vs. my happiness and the role each one has played in my life. Prior to Jesus I really did live a life chasing after happiness. I learned through hardship that chasing after this will lead to an empty and unfulfilled life. Responsibility or obligation was not my favorite words and my life reflected it. Even yet today, I am more prone to lay my responsibilities aside more often than not in favor of the things that would make me happy in the moment.

Since 2019 I have looked at my life differently. Mine was a painful, messy and dramatic death of self. I knew I could have done things differently and I really fought with myself about it. There is nothing we can do about the past, no matter what the damage is. All we can do is deal with the pieces that are left and go about making a new thing. Thank the Father above for His grace to us each day to learn and grow. We have the opportunity to live a life we are proud of which will lead to happiness, no matter what has happened in the past.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

Obligation

noun

an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.

What are my obligations towards the people in my life? Please remember that these are my opinions and if you disagree please do so with respect. I am a house wife that longs to please her Lord and Master and my family more than anything.

My Husband – I am to keep a tidy home, raise well rounded children, and tend to all the other needs my day demands of me to run a home smoothly and effectively. He should not have to worry about his clothes or meals or wonder why the house looks like a mini tornado came through it and had a party with three others equally as disrespectful. There are a lot of things I have to do for my husband daily that do not always bring instant happiness.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, So that he shall have no need of spoil.
Proverbs 31:11 KJV

My Kids – The bible tells me I am to train them up in the way that they should go and for each of this it might look a little different but foundational wise we all want our children to be well rounded, kind, compassionate humans that can handle themselves in the world without loosing themselves. I want them to find Jesus and never let go. Being a parent is hard and at times more painful than we could have ever thought possible. Happiness as a parent can make you feel a bit bi-polar with its deep valleys and high mountains.

Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 KJV

Outer Family and Others – Scripture teaches us that we are to look after those that have less than we do. No where in the Bible will you find where it speaks about having a certain amount before helping others. It says if you have it give it. We serve a God that looks after us and will provide all that we need in abundance! If you see something that needs to change in the neighborhood and you have the power to do something… do something, change it. This does not bring happiness all the time. It can but more often than not, in order to change something, it will be hard.

and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
Zechariah 7:10 KJV

Myself – I am obligated to take care of myself for the Lord and for my family. If I am not up and in working order, how can I successfully run my home. This means a wide variety of things but include things like exercise, drinking water, eating right and allowing the Holy Spirit to clean out my soul. None of which brings me any happiness in the moment and only produces joy in my soul when I look at them in hindsight.

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15 KJV

Happiness

noun

the state of being happy

I had based my happiness in a lot of things in this world and the Lord allowed things to happen in my life and to be honest I lost hope for a while. He had to show me how to rest in Him and how to find my happiness in Him. I had to learn a lot of things that have brought me right back to my core values that I didn’t even know I had lost. Part of this is going to look like outer changes and others will be internal.

Make things better wherever you are however you can.

Dr Jordan Peterson

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Jesus

There is a lot I could say about the topic at hand but I will save some for tomorrow. I have a lot of things knocking around in this head of mine and will be back to put pen to paper when time allows. Until the next time I write, I leave you with this thought… what can we each do to change the things we don’t like in our lives? What would happen if we just stopped doing or started doing those things which we know we need to either stop or start?