How Can Enjoying Happiness In God’s Creation Draw Us To God?

How can enjoying happiness in God’s creation draw us to God?

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

God is the only source of happiness and joy, and no creature is or can be a source of happiness independently of Him. But He can and does make use of creatures to adorn, perfect, and complete the happiness of the whole man.

FLORENTIN J. BOUDREAUX

TWO SERIOUSLY ILL MEN occupied the same hospital room. The man next to the window was able to sit up, while the other couldn’t.

Each day the man by the window described in picturesque detail what he saw—including a lake, ducks, and children sailing model boats. This meant the world to his roommate, who had no outside view. Witnessing these sights secondhand brought him daily happiness.

Eventually the man by the window died. His saddened roommate requested a move to the bed by the window. He couldn’t wait to enjoy all the sights his roommate had described. But as he eagerly looked outside for the first time all he saw was an old brick wall.

Perspective makes all the difference. His roommate had been able to see, in his mind’s eye, life beyond the wall. Some prisoners, surrounded by bare walls, see in their imaginations the world’s true beauty. But many “free people” are surrounded by rich beauty yet day after day, year after year, fail to see it. Who is happier?

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship of the Ring: “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”^a

The better I know Jesus, the more I see him all around me—in people, animals, places, and objects. But if I hadn’t studied his Word and reflected on his character over the years, I wouldn’t have known what to look for. A student of insects or birds can see dozens of fascinating specimens on a short walk. Another person on the same walk, not having learned to observe, can miss them altogether.

Scripture paints a picture of how we should think about God in our daily lives: we should be talking about (and to) God throughout the day, teaching ourselves and our children to see him in everything (see Deuteronomy 6:1-7).

Two of my grandsons love football and speak tirelessly of professional players. So Nanci and I enter into their world. We name those we consider the best players and say, “Isn’t it amazing that God has given each person special gifts to use for his glory, and the rest of us get to enjoy it?” In this way, we see God’s master craftsmanship in the beauty of life. When we see an athlete who honors Christ, we encourage our grandsons with his or her example. When we see ugliness in an athlete who glorifies himself, we see the Curse at work, and it’s another teaching opportunity.

Consider the brightest “stars” in the sky—which are actually the planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. Unlike the true stars we see, which are far away and therefore dimmer, these planets don’t shine with their own light; they are bright only because they reflect the sun.

Likewise, the moon is a beautiful sight, but it doesn’t generate light on its own. It merely reflects it. Merely makes the reflection sound trivial, but this is actually a magnificent phenomenon. The moon was made to glorify the sun, and when it does, it shares in the sun’s glory. (If the moon were able to talk, wouldn’t we think it foolish if we heard it congratulate itself for how brightly it shines?)

So it is with all secondary sources of happiness. Things such as art, music, literature, sports, careers, and hobbies generate no light on their own. The light they bring comes from “the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

I don’t value the planets and moon less because they don’t shine by their own light. Likewise, I don’t devalue my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my coworkers, or my dog because they’re secondary to God and reflect him. On the contrary, I value them all the more because the God who is primary has made them who and what they are, and he has endowed them with worth that makes them far more important than if they were merely random accidents with a flickering light of their own.

Happiness can be sought in thousands of places, but it can be found in only one. That source is God, who incredibly is “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). He is big enough to create the galaxies, yet he dwells in each of us who know him.

God, expand our ability to see your reflection in every good thing. And help us to love that reflection because the face we see is yours. What happiness awaits us as we more clearly see you in and through all the good and perfect gifts you give!