Growing up in the Church, I used to be under the general impression that the Christian life was meant to be miserable. Oh sure, I figured God wanted “good” things for me—salvation, an eternity strumming harps in the clouds, a healthy dose of suffering, and a lifetime of missionary work in a third-world country. But I never allowed myself to consider that God actually means for us to live lives that are bursting with imagination and excitement and wonder.
If you’ve been feeling the same way, like maybe Christianity is meant to be miserable and your life is one constant cycle of suffering, can I give you a new invitation? Let me invite you to look at the Gospels again, to look at why Jesus came again, and to reimagine what this journey is meant to be for us.
Jesus’s self-described mission statement is that we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10, NIV).
Did you get that? God wants us to live abundantly.
The Bible says “every good and perfect thing is from above” (James 1:17). As the book of Proverbs demonstrates, true pleasure is the return blessing of living a righteous life: nature, sunlight, fellowship, laughter, delicious meals, chocolate. In fact, C.S. Lewis considered himself a “Christian hedonist.” A “hedonist” is someone who engages in the pursuit of pleasure. Consider what this would mean if taken in a Christian sense—someone who pursues the pleasures with which God filled the earth: good music, wine, art, love, nature, beauty. All of these things are things we’re meant to enjoy!
This is what I have been realizing: God planted dreams in my heart so that I could chase them. God loves to see me joyful. This is the God that invented adventure, oceanic life, belly laughter, major music chords, falling in love, constellations, family, algebra, the structure of a cell, compelling stories, ideas, butterflies, new destinations, flavors, and the human mind. Why would God create all these things if he didn’t want them to be appreciated?
But Olivia, you might be wondering, we can’t just pursue happiness all of the time. Happiness is only half the equation of life. What about the rest—pain and heartbreak, etcetera?
You’re absolutely right. As lovely as the happy things in life are, nothing in this world can satisfy us. And yet “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). All of our heartbreak and suffering is still bringing us towards good. We all experience pangs of longing for something greater—and that’s where last week’s exploration of sehnsucht, our desire for another world, comes into play. Pleasure reminds us that life on earth is good; heartbreaking Joy reminds us that life in heaven is better.
And even though our souls will never be satisfied until we reach our otherworldly home, our life on earth is still brimming with promises of that future happiness. God wants what is best for us in the best way.
This is the God that gave us life and the excitement to live it big. This is the God that wants my everyday to be an adventure, to pry me away from the grindstone and spirit me away to a life of color.
Yes, there is suffering and frustration in life, but only to the end that I grow deeper and wiser and closer to my Creator. As I love the people around me and enjoy this good earth that God created and chase my dreams, God is leading me, one step at a time, into a beautiful new life.
<3 Olivia Grace
