Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4:4-7
We all have somewhere we call our “happy place.” It might be at the beach, perhaps on a mountain, or maybe beside a lake or river. It might be in an easy chair in front of the fireplace with a good book, or perhaps with a game or movie on the TV. Your happy place might be standing (or sitting) at a workbench working on your favorite hobby or craft. I’ve been told that there are some strange people who say the gym or dance studio is their happy place. For some, their happy place is wherever and whenever the family is gathered together. Exactly what our happy place is can vary, but what they all have in common is that our happy place is, well, the place that makes us happy. It’s a place where we are at peace, content, relaxed, and feel safe and secure.
There’s something else all of these “happy places” have in common: they are externally defined. We “go” to our happy place, and if we are not there, then we must not be happy. Not only that, but how often do we find the peace and comfort of our happy places shattered? Yes, our happy places do indeed make us happy, but that happiness is fragile, and it is fleeting. There’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to have a happy place, but what’s important is to recognize what that desire is pointing us toward.
In The Weight of Glory CS Lewis writes,
Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter.…The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.
The Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:17 and the writer of Hebrews in 8:5 and 10:1 talk about the things of earth being shadows of the true substance of Christ and of Heaven. The feelings of peace and contentment we get in our happy places are gifts from God, in order to point us to what will truly satisfy the longings of our soul — Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul is able to talk about the “peace that surpasses understanding” in Philippians 4. The church in Philippi was dealing with internal strife and conflict and external persecution. Paul wrote this letter while sitting in prison. And yet, he tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice.” There is a peace and a joy that is available to us no matter where we are or what we are going through. It’s a peace that comes from the Holy Spirit and a joy that springs from a soul that is at rest in Christ. The happy places of this world are meant to remind us of the happy place for which our soul yearns: being in the presence of God.
When it all comes down to it, that is what Heaven is. Whether Heaven is some ethereal place in the clouds, or the remade earth at the end of history, or the glorious City of God, what those places all have in common is the presence of God. The longings of this life are meant to remind us that in Christ the deepest desires of our souls are met, and that one day, we will long no more for we will see God face to face and exult in the joy and delight of being His children with Him forever.
When we set our eyes on Jesus Christ and allow Him to be our peace and joy, then we discover our “happy place” is wherever He is, doing whatever He has called us to do. Then, even the most unlikely situations or circumstances become our “happy place.” Our true happy place is Jesus. Instead of trying to satisfy your longing for a happy place by going to somewhere particular, go to Jesus, and rest in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. — Phil. 4:11-12
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
