God longs for us to “happier” and this requires that we remember He has created us as His children, He never leaves us, and all we really need can be found in Him.

 

Think about a time you lost something very special, or had somebody you deeply loved leave or die. What were the different feelings you had? What was most difficult about the process? What helped you in your grieving?

 

“Life is not fair.” Perhaps you have had somebody say that to you before. Perhaps you have found it discouraging to hear those words. This earthly life is full of highs and lows. There will be pain, death, and separation. Sin has brought hard times.

 

The writer of the song, “Happier” explores the break-up of a relationship from the perspective of one who faces the cold and hard reality that they want the other to be “happier” and this will mean ending what they have known together. The writer says, “When the morning comes, when we see what we’ve become, in the cold light of day we’re a flame in the wind, not the fire that we’ve begun. Every argument, every word we can’t take back… lately, I’ve been thinking, I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier.”

 

In every circumstance of loss and grief we are forced to let go of something or somebody we loved. It could be an object, it could be a pet or it could be a person but in each of these times we are called to move forward into a “new normal” where we once again will find happiness. This attitude of expectancy we call joy. 

 

In James 1:2-4 we see a way forward in responding to the rough spots of life, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (New Living Translation) 

 

God longs for us to “happier” and this requires that we remember He has created us as His children, He never leaves us, and all we really need can be found in Him. As we learn to embrace this, we will also be God’s agent in sacrificially and unconditionally loving others so they may be happier along the way.