We all want to be happy, but most people don’t appear to be happy. We try to find happiness in many ways. Where do we find it? Can we really be happy? Or is happiness just an illusion that we reach for, like grasping at the wind, so close but never attainable?

We think, “If I only have this or that, I’ll be happy.” Or we believe, “I’ll be happy when…” Sometimes the “when” never comes, or if it comes, it does not produce the happiness we thought it would. Sometimes it even makes us more unhappy. Why?

The reason is that when we live for ourselves without God we’re never truly happy. Happiness is not found in things or in perfect circumstances. Happiness is a Person: Jesus Christ. Perhaps you think, “I tried God, but He didn’t make me happy.” However, if you really gave God an opportunity to make a difference in your life, He would bring joy and satisfaction to you.

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26 (NIV)

So, where does happiness come from and how do we keep it? It comes from the Lord, and as we are in a right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, we can live a happy, contented life. Happiness is being right with God and knowing God. A personal, real relationship with Jesus is the source of all true happiness.