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“I just need to be me.” “I deserve to be happy.” “I’m ready to do what I want to do with my life.” These statements sound pretty positive at first glance, but there is something disturbingly eerie about each of them. The main subject of every single one of those statements is: I. These are quite large life statements that will affect every part of your life. If the main subject of a main life statement is I, it sounds like an awfully selfish theme for a life.
We have this idea that if we really want to be happy, then we need to look out for ourselves. We need to discover what will really make us happy and go after it, no matter the cost. This idea is extremely popular in our culture today, but what does the Bible say will bring us happiness?
Proverbs 29:18
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild [and perish]. But whoever obeys the law of God is joyful [happy].
Laying down our need for self-fulfillment, and seeking the fulfillment of God’s will first is what really brings us true happiness. Living a life of no restraints and doing what we please is not genuinely free. It is wild. It is reckless. It seeks our own happiness above all else, and in the end brings death.
The people in the book of Ezekiel wanted freedom to do whatever they wanted. They sought their own happiness even if in the beginning it convicted their conscience. This is what the Lord said about them:
Ezekiel 20:13a
“But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life…”
Sometimes when life is going kind of rough for us, a wilderness of sorts, we make decisions that end up causing us much grief. God said if they would have just obeyed Him even when times were hard, they would have found life! The life we are looking for isn’t in pursuing our selfish whims. It is in submitting our life to God’s plan for us.
"But you don’t understand… I deserve this! I’m tired and I’m frustrated. It’s time to put me first!" If getting what we think we need requires separation from the commands and instructions from God, we will not ever be satisfied. We will not find the freedom we are looking for.
Ezekiel 20:43
You will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done.
If finding happiness for yourself is your main goal, you will most assuredly find just the opposite. If doing whatever you want however you want to do it, is your definition of freedom, then you have just become a slave to your own selfishness.
Seeking a life of freedom to be happy in a way that contradicts the Word of God will take us down a path of regrets. Once we have had our fill, we will look back and be ashamed of what we became. We will feel sick over the ways we defiled ourselves, and we will hate ourselves for the evil things we did.
Father God, no matter what I go through, please help me to never consider a life lived for myself as more desirable than a life lived for You. My happiness lies in my ability to trust You and live for You no matter what, not in running wild. Thank You for giving me true freedom and joy as I choose You in every situation I’m in. I don’t want to live a selfish life of regrets or shame.