Today, my thoughts started with a picture, then turned to variations of a song, then a poem and finally the Scriptures.
First, this beautiful blue bird...
Then, the song..
Jim Roberts (From the Lawrence Welk show)
sings "The Bluebird of Happiness"
And, finally
A poem by Dominic Windram
I hope you enjoyed listening to the links and the poem, for they are but a small part of what is out there. But what does the Bible say about happiness? Many things, the most predominant in my mind is Matthew 5:1-16, but as I think of our situation in America today; with its abounding lawless and political corruption, I remember the book of Habakkuk....
Habakkuk 1 ( World English Bible )
1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?
3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.
5 “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.
6 For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
9 All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
10 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.
11 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.”
12 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
Chapter 2...
1 I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2 Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
Chapter 3...
2 Yahweh, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, Yahweh. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, you remember mercy.
16 I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.
17 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
If the Democrats have their way, this country will be transformed from the United States of America to United Socialist America. Those who are not part of this transformation will suffer many things and for some this means death.
Habakkuk was given a vision of God's judgment upon Israel. The message was to Israel, but also to Habakkuk, for the prophet was to live by faith (and not pride). The last chapter is a prayer and in that prayer, he seeks the mercy of God (vs 3:2 emboldened) and although he is obviously scared to the bone, he looks to God for the strength to continue.
With all these things in mind, could it be that the upcoming cataclysm for the USA is God's way of punishing our nation for the millions and millions of abortions and the sin that is so rampant within our country? Could God be doing a work in OUR day that we cannot see or understand. I believe the answer is YES! I pray that even should the worst happen, that we can say things like Habakkuk says in 3:17-18 and find happiness amidst turmoil. Truthfully, there is no magical bluebird of Happiness, but there is God, who has shown HIS power over the eons. Trust in HIM and find comfort and hope!
I will never forget the words of the Apostle Paul...
Philippians 4 ( WEB )