WHERE TRUE HAPPINESS IS FOUND.
By John Harvey Kellogg
WORRY and anxiety are detrimental to health, while thankfulness, peace, and happiness promote health. All are in search of happiness, but few know where to find it. It is not found in amusements or in a life of idleness, for “in the world ye shall have tribulation.” It is found only in a life of cheerful obedience. Such a life may be lived anywhere, therefore happiness may be found anywhere. “Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Here we have the secret of true happiness. Peace of mind does not depend on where we are, but on what we are. Each has within himself the choice of true happiness or wretchedness. Circumstances and surroundings have but little to do with the experiences of the soul. How many feel as did David when in trouble, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.” How many think that they would be happy if only their surroundings could be a little different. Sooner or later all such will discover that happiness can never be gained by a change of surroundings; the only change that can ever bring it is a change within. Hagar, Sarah’s maid, evidently made this mistake. The record tells us, “Her mistress was despised in her eyes.” Naturally this led her mistress to treat her unkindly. “And when Sarah dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.” But Hagar discovered she was no happier away from Sarah than she was with her. In her extremity she plead with God for a way out of her difficulty, “and the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness.” “And he said, Hagar, Sarah’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah. The angel of the Lord said unto her, Return unto thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.” Hagar had an experience to gain which could not be gained by fleeing from what she supposed to be her unfavorable surroundings. It was not a change of surroundings that was needed. Hagar needed a change of heart. The angel said unto her what he is saying to every one who is trying to secure happiness by fleeing from supposed unfavorable surroundings, “Whither wilt thou go?” “Return . . . and submit thyself.” It is only in this way that we will be able to secure happiness.9When our surroundings are disagreeable and every one seems unkind, frequently it is due to some fault in us that needs to be confessed and overcome. Had Hagar not despised her mistress, no doubt Sarah would not have dealt hardly with her. The Lord permitted Sarah to deal hardly with Hagar for Hagar’s sake. “It must needs be that offenses come.” Not until we have overcome on every defect of character shall we be entirely free from offenses and trials. Offenses that injure one prove a blessing to another. Whether we are injured or not depends upon our attitude toward them. The water that proved a well of protection to Israel, swallowed up the Egyptians. The same flame of fire that slew the men that cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace only consumed the cords that bound the usefulness of these three Hebrew captives. There was not even the smell of fire on their garments. Satan watches closely the lives of all; he makes a careful note of our words and actions; he understands every weak point in our characters. He always assails us on our weakest point, hoping to destroy. God permits this to reveal to us our weaknesses, that we may confess our faults one to another and pray one for another that we may be healed. Thus God would make the wrath of man to praise Him. If we see the real aim of our trials, etc., we shall regard them as blessings; then they will develop character and bring peace within which will be always followed by peace without. Whenever Israel did right they had rest around about from all their enemies, when they sinned, the Lord permitted their enemies to assail them. When they cried for help, humbled themselves, confessed their sins, and overcame, the Lord gave them rest again. This experience was repeated over and over again in their experience just as it is in ours. Of Solomon the Lord said, “I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of men.” Solomon saw this fulfilled in the experience of his life. This led him to say, near its close: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” The troubles from without are designed to correct the trouble that exists within. To take up arms in self-defense or in self-justification, or to flee from the supposed disagreeable surroundings, means a moral defeat. The better way is to make the confession made by the thief on the cross, “We receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man [Christ] hath done nothing amiss,” and He is the only one of whom this can be truthfully said. The one who recognizes this is not far from the kingdom of happiness. Those who know that all things work together for good, to them all things work together for good; while those who do not know this, but see evil in that which is designed for their good, to them it results in evil. It is our privilege to find happiness where we are. If we are unable to find it where we are, we shall never find out. Never try to find out of Christ that which can only be found out in Him. At His “right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”