candy

What Makes You Happy?

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!” – Psalm 144:15

Browsing in a gift shop yesterday, I came upon a wall of rustic wood signs hand-painted with inspirational sayings. Trendy and very tempting, yes, but who among us hasn’t had this thought—why spend $25 when I could do that myself? I remembered I had some scrap wood laying about and even began dreaming up catchy names for an Etsy shop. As I took stock of my possibilities, however, I realized that I lacked paint, stain, the right brushes, hardware for hanging, workspace, time, and calligraphic skill.

Faced with my clearcut deficiencies, I sank back to earth and returned to reading the assorted clever sayings and cliches displayed before me. My attention was drawn to the message painted on one especially winsome square fashioned from rough-hewn pine planks—“Do what makes you happy.”

Now this was an arresting thought which gave rise to quite a few questions to ponder on the drive home. Was it true or false? Good advice or bad? Should I do what makes me happy? Does God want me to do what makes me happy? Do I usually do what makes me happy? What does make me happy?