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E. C. Hadley
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Burden of Guilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Seeking Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

About Our Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Joy of Forgiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Adjusting Our Attitudes. . . . . . . . . . 15

Provision of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Finding Rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

His Chastening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Unselfish Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Happy Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Scriptures from The New King James Version, © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. By permission.

Revised, April 1995; Reprint, October 2013

Grace & Truth, Inc.

210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL 61832 USA
or • P.O. Box 4902, Kaduna Junction P.O., Kaduna, Nigeria
gtpress@[Link] / [Link]
YOU CAN HAVE A HAPPY LIFE 3

“These things I have spoken to you,

that My joy may remain in you,
and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:11

W hy are so many Christians restless, worried and unhap-

py, even though the verse above tells us clearly that this
is not what God intends for His children? In this booklet, we
hope to address this question to discover God’s remedy so that
we might be able to say with Paul, “I have learned in whatev-
er state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11).

BURDEN OF GUILT
One of the basic causes of unhappiness is a sense of guilt
that burdens the conscience and robs the soul of peace. Before
we can have true happiness there must be peace with God.
If there are any doubts about our peace with God, there
can be no settled peace in the soul. If we are to succeed in
finding peace, and the happiness that results from it, we
must begin with this question of guilt and how it can be
removed.
Guilt destroys happiness and peace. It breaks down self-
esteem and robs us of self-confidence. How can we trust our-
selves when we know that we have done many wrong things?
We may try to run away from our conscience by pursuing
earthly pleasure, or we may attempt to quiet its voice by rea-
soning that times have changed, and that now “everybody
does it.”
Still, there is that uneasy feeling that something is not
right. We instinctively know that God has not changed and
that sin never ceases to be sin. No matter how much we try to
repress the guilty feeling, it is still there—making us restless,
uneasy and fearful.
4 YOU CAN HAVE
Coupled with a sense of guilt is a consciousness that we
deserve to be punished. This increases our fear. God, who
knows all about this, has said: “Be sure your sin will find you
out” (Num. 32:23). We cannot have peace and true happiness
until the question of our guilt is settled in a way that is just.
Our God-implanted conscience, part of the moral nature of
man, makes us feel guilty when we have done something
wrong. It also makes us realize that we deserve punishment.
Some try to ease their guilt by joining a church and getting
involved in religious activities, but they know deep down that
this will never bring peace.

DEALING WITH GUILT

Guilt produces a fear of God whom we know we have
offended, and a fear of the punishment we instinctively know
we deserve. There is only one way to lift this depressing
sense of guilt and fear. It is through justification by faith in
the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. In the epistle to
the Romans, Paul deals directly with the question of our guilt
and God’s answer to it. There we read that all the world is
guilty, but God provides the means for our justification: “For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justi-
fied freely by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus … that He might be just and the justifier of the
one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24,26).
In that same epistle, we also read of the results of that jus-
tification: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ … And not only that, but
we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received the reconciliation”
(Rom. 5:1,11). God’s way not only lifts the depressing load of
guilt but also gives us a consciousness of God’s love that pro-
duces joy.
The guilt that once made us tremble at the thought of
judgment now becomes the means by which we measure the
love of God, who did not spare His own Son but delivered
Him up for us. The memory of our guilt, becomes a wellspring
of thanksgiving to God who redeemed us and justified us.
A HAPPY LIFE 5
How can a guilty soul have peace with a holy God? The
only answer is through the blood of the cross: “Without shed-
ding of blood there is no remission” for sin (Heb. 9:22). On the
cross, Christ was made an offering for all our sins, and He
bore the punishment due our sins (Isa. 53:4-6,10). This suf-
fering and death of Christ are the only grounds upon which a
righteous God and a guilty creature can be at peace.

SEEKING PEACE
Once a sinner acknowledges his sin, his first concern is
how to obtain peace with God. But the great question is not,
“How can a sinner make peace with his God?” It is, “How can
a holy, sin-hating God make peace with this sinner?” God
accomplished this by giving His Son as the sacrifice for sin:
“Having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col.
1:20). It is not by any effort of the sinner that peace is made;
God has already made peace through the blood of the cross.
Peace with God does not depend upon our feelings. We
may deceive ourselves into believing we will come out all
right in the end. But such false peace is the fruit of unbelief,
for God plainly states, “All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The only way to true peace is
repentance; the Bible says, “Unless you repent you will …
perish” (Lk. 13:5).
The first step to true peace then is to accept this fact. The
next step is to believe God’s evaluation of the sacrifice of
Christ: “Who … when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).
Peace is an accomplished fact; and God is so satisfied with
that sacrifice for our sins that He has placed His Son at the
right hand of His own throne in glory to prove it.
God always sees the believer as clothed in all the merits of
that sacrifice, which washed away all his sins once for all and
obtained eternal redemption for him (Heb. 9:12). Therefore,
God’s attitude of peace towards the believer is unchanging
because the sacrifice upon which it is based is perfect.
However, the measure to which the believer enjoys it may
vary greatly. If we get self-occupied we may lose the sense of
6 YOU CAN HAVE
it. We can only enjoy it as we rest in full assurance of faith in
the sacrifice of Christ.
We may know that God is at peace with us through Christ
and still not have a sense of the peace of God ruling in our
hearts. Sin may bring us under the chastening hand of God.
In chastening, He is only seeking to deliver us from those
things which are robbing our souls of the enjoyment of His
peace. (See Heb. 12:5-11.) He chastens in love, not counting
us as enemies, but always as His well-beloved children.

OBEDIENCE NEEDED
The conscience enlightened by the Word of God demands
obedience to God who loves us and has redeemed us. If we do
those things which displease Him, or if we leave undone
things He wants us to do, our conscience accuses us and
inward conflict results. We have no peace because we cannot
quiet the voice of our conscience.
Besides the conscience, every believer in Christ also has
the Spirit of God abiding in him. (See Rom. 8:9,15; Eph. 1:13;
Gal. 4:6; 1 Cor. 6:19.) One activity of the Spirit of God is to
bring to our hearts the love of God, and to show the things of
Christ to us (Rom. 5:5; Jn. 16:14). Both give joy and peace to
the soul, but “the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another” (Gal.
5:17). The constant effort of the Spirit of God is to oppose the
flesh and prompt us to do the will of God in obedience to the
Word of God.
If we yield to the flesh we throw ourselves into conflict not
only with our conscience, but also with the Spirit. On the
other hand, if we yield to the Holy Spirit and to our con-
science, He gives us the strength to do the will of God. And
what happens then? Instead of inward conflict, we are in har-
mony with God, His Word, and His Spirit; and consequently
we enjoy a deeper sense of His love and a fuller measure of
His joy and peace.
When we walk in obedience to God’s revealed will, we
enjoy His love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (1
Jn. 4:9; Rom. 5:5-8). Then we can say, “If God is for us, who
A HAPPY LIFE 7
can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Trouble may be all around,
but we will not fear because Psalm 4:8 tells us: “I will both lie
down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me
dwell in safety.”
If we are disobedient, the peace of His presence will be lost
and our conscience will accuse us while the Holy Spirit con-
victs us. When the Word of God is neglected, the soul does not
enjoy peace. The power of God, which gave the heart confi-
dence while walking with Him, will now work to humble us.
We will meet with disappointment. Plans will be over-
thrown. Things we thought would be sweet to the taste
become bitter. He uses circumstances to make us taste the
bitterness of disobedience and to break down self-will. His
chastening hand is felt.

GOD WORKING
How graciously God works to bring us to our senses!
Waywardness not only dishonors Him but also robs us of joy
and peace. If God allowed us to continue in the path of dis-
obedience, we would eventually have to reap the conse-
quences. But in love, He lets us feel His chastening hand and
uses circumstances to break down our rebellion to His will.
Proverbs 3:11-12 tells us: “My son, do not despise the chas-
tening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the
LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he
delights.”
A loving Father may have to chasten His child for his own
good. The child may doubt the motives of the Father, but the
child’s inability to discern the Father’s purpose does not
change the Father’s love or methods. If the child had more
confidence in his Father, he would believe Him—even though
unable to understand. This makes it easier to yield to the
Father’s will and obtain peace as well. Confidence in God is
necessary to enjoy peace.
The Holy Spirit speaks to our heart and conscience,
through chastening and the Word, to bring us to confess way-
wardness and turn again to the paths of righteousness: “Now
no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
8 YOU CAN HAVE
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righ-
teousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).
Humbled “under the mighty hand of God” (1 Pet. 5:6), the
soul is once more able to walk in the path of righteousness
and reap its peaceable fruits.
If we learn the lesson of God’s chastening, we acquire
peace. If we keep His commandments, we gain even more,
because “in keeping them there is great reward” (Ps. 19:11).
“Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him
with the whole heart! … Great peace have those who love
Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Ps.
119:2,165).

PEACE OF MIND
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may
have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). When we
read the account of the mock trial of our Lord, one thing real-
ly strikes us—Him standing peacefully in the midst of that
mocking, hypocritical mob. How could He do it? He gives us
His secret in John 16:32: “I am not alone, because the Father
is with me.”
He was in perfect submission to His Father’s will, whatev-
er the cost. He was with His Father throughout the ordeal,
and so His peace was never interrupted. His Father’s plan
was perfect and His faith looked on to the glorious results of
that wonderful plan: “For the joy that was set before Him
(He) endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
Now He has overcome the world and sat down in the glory.
All power in heaven and earth is given into His pierced hand.
What peace for our hearts and minds! He has a perfect plan
for each one of His own. Let us trust Him then, knowing that
His will is best. When we walk with Him, there is blessing
and peace in our future: “I will never leave you nor forsake
you” (Heb. 13:5).
Why do we complain about our circumstances when His
pierced hands are guiding us and His infinite wisdom has
A HAPPY LIFE 9
planned the future for us? Either we don’t trust Him or we
don’t want to go the way He is taking us. Our deceitful heart
manifests itself by not trusting Him who died for us and into
whose pierced hands all power in heaven and earth has been
given.
For our own good, we must surrender to Him. The Potter
is forming a useful vessel. Should the clay rebel when it feels
the pressure of His fingers as He molds, turns and shapes it
on the spinning wheel?
Trust in Him: “These things I have spoken to you, that in
Me you may have peace” (Jn. 16:33). Our circumstances may
not change, our sorrows may not be removed; but if Christ is
brought into our grief, we will be able to say with the
psalmist: “You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall sur-
round me with songs of deliverance” (Ps. 32:7).
His wisdom cannot err. His power cannot fail. His love can
never change. Even His direct dealing with us is for our deep-
est spiritual gain. Knowing this should lead us to say in the
midst of sorrow, pain, and loss: “The LORD gave, and the LORD
has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).

ABOUT OUR FEARS

One of the greatest hindrances to peace and security is
fear—of sickness, accidents, death, job loss, financial trouble
and so on. How can we have inner peace in a world full of
injustice, conflict and uncertainty, where life is one long
struggle for existence?
Job confessed that even in his great prosperity he was
harassed by fears: “The thing I greatly feared has come upon
me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at
ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes” (Job
3:25-26).
If we had a father who was very wise, had inexhaustible
resources, and would do anything for our good, wouldn’t that
calm our fears and give us a sense of security? As a child of
God we have all this in our heavenly Father.
If He invites us to cast all our cares upon Him, because He
cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7), why then can’t we turn our fears over
10 YOU CAN HAVE
to Him? Is it because we are afraid He will let us down? Is it
because we are not willing to submit our wills to Him? Are we
letting the devil get the best of us by making us feel we would
be the losers if we completely surrendered our lives to Him?
We cannot leave God out of our lives and have freedom
from fear. In the deep recesses of our souls we know that God
exists and has almighty power. If we are not giving God His
rightful place, we will have fear even though we may refuse
to admit it. Denying God produces fear. It’s as simple as that.
Fear is the painful sensation that danger threatens. The
danger may be real or imagined, but the fear is real. Anxiety
and worry are forms of fear. Anxiety is fear of anticipated
danger. Worry is a brooding over these anxious fears.
Fear, anxiety and worry sap our energy and undermine
our peace of mind. They are like weeds that grow and crowd
out the flowers in our garden of happiness. Where do these
weeds come from? Is there no way of getting rid of them? Has
God left us with no way to cope with them?

CONFESSING OUR SINS

The Bible traces these fears to their real source and gives
us the only effective remedy: “God is love … There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves tor-
ment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1
Jn. 4:16,18). Nothing will cast out fear like confidence in God’s
perfect love. Since love has blotted out all our sins through
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we can be sure that God has for-
given them and will never again hold us accountable for them.
An accusing conscience, that says that punishment is due
us, is one of the major causes of anxiety, fear and worry.
Genesis gives us the first record of fear that man had. In the
Garden of Eden, after he had eaten the forbidden fruit, the
Lord said to Adam: “Where are you?” Adam’s response was, “I
heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I
was naked” (Gen. 3:9-10). He was afraid because he knew he
had sinned and deserved to be punished.
Down deep we know that sin deserves punishment, and
that there will be no deliverance until the things that are
A HAPPY LIFE 11
troubling our conscience are cleared up in a way that is satis-
factory to God.
When our conscience is troubled, we may try to forget our
sins. It is natural to push them out of our mind or repress
them altogether. But we can never really succeed, because
deep in the unconscious mind the memory of them keeps sur-
facing in one form or another.
We may not be fully conscious of the fact that sin and self-
will are the cause of our anxious fears. It is so easy to deceive
ourselves and make ourselves believe that someone or some-
thing else is responsible. However, we will never get rid of
our fears or have any real peace until we admit the truth and
get things right with God.
A young lady, brought up in a Christian home, began to do
things that her conscience condemned. Unwilling to admit
them and confess them to God, she began to persuade herself
first that God didn’t care, and then that there was no God.
For several years she claimed to be an atheist. But the sin in
her life gradually developed into anxiety and fear.
She finally felt like she was losing her mind and ended up
in a mental hospital. Many remedies were tried, but no relief
came until she faced the fact that she was trying to rule God
out of her life. Once she confessed her sins and surrendered
to God, she was able to leave the hospital with her anxieties
and fears gone and her mind clear.

JOY OF FORGIVENESS
We have to be conscious of God’s forgiveness and His per-
fect love to have our fears cast out. But we can’t have confi-
dence in Him until we are sure we are forgiven. We can’t
have this assurance while we are unwilling to confess our
sins to Him: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:8-9).
There are three steps we must take to really get rid of anx-
iety and fear:
1. Recognize the sin that is at the root of our anxious fears.
12 YOU CAN HAVE
2. Believe that God really does forgive our sins when we
confess them.
3. Put our sins, along with the anxiety and fear they pro-
duce, out of mind. Whenever they do come to mind again,
instead of feeling anxiety, we will be reminded and thankful
that God has forgiven them all.
When we take these three steps, we will be able to say
with the psalmist, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not
want … I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and
Your staff, they comfort me … Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD forever” (Ps. 23:1,4,6).
A little child awakened by a storm cries out in fear. His
father comes and takes him in his arms. Soon the child is
asleep again. The storm has not ceased but the child’s confi-
dence in his father gives him a sense of security and removes
his fear.

PATH OF PEACE
What comfort and peace would come if we would just cast
ourselves fully on Him and willingly let Him plan our life!
His plan is infinitely better than anything we could ever work
out for ourselves. His plan embraces all the details of our life
here, and also has in view our eternal happiness.
What comfort to have Him as our Shepherd, Caretaker
and Friend—to be able to say, “The LORD is my Shepherd; I
shall not want.” (Ps. 23:1). Rest and satisfaction belong to the
believer who is willing to trust and follow the Shepherd: “He
leads me beside the still waters” (v. 2). The storms may rage
around us, but when we are close to Him, we are at peace. If
we are in a place of unrest, we can be sure He has not led us
there, though He may let us pass that way to teach us how
bitter it is not to listen to Him.
Are we listening to His voice in our daily life? Are we fol-
lowing Him step by step regardless of how rough the road?
He says, “My sheep hear my voice … and they follow Me” (Jn.
10:27). What a comfort to have such a Friend going all the
way with us in every trouble, great or small.
A HAPPY LIFE 13
What a path the Christian is called to follow! The Almighty
Creator and Sustainer of this vast universe gave His life for
us and now ever lives to comfort, counsel, guide and lead us.
How is it that we let Satan get our eyes off Christ and rob us
of our peace, giving us unrest and fear instead?
Satan wants us to doubt and fear. Will we yield to him or
to the loving hand of God? Which path will we follow? That of
sight that sees only the storm upsetting our plans, or that of
faith that sees our Good Shepherd’s loving hand guiding us
into a fuller communion with Himself?
Are we in trouble? Do we fear tomorrow? Are we sick, sor-
rowing or in debt? Dear child of God: Christ died for us! Do
not distrust His love. By these very trials He is working out
for us a deeper joy and happiness than we could ever have
any other way.
Paul triumphantly shouts in the midst of great troubles
and distresses: “We do not lose heart … For our light afflic-
tion, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the
things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
The language of faith is brave because the eye of faith does
not let the things seen occupy the mind. They are seen only
as the elements that God is using to develop a richer, fuller
spiritual life in us. We must keep our eye on Him who will
lead us into peace and out of fear.
Certainly, there are trials in the path of faith, but each
trial is a door to richer joy and peace in Christ. Don’t shrink
back at the entrance. If we do, we will find that there are
greater trials in the path of unbelief, which are always bitter
and disappointing in the end.
Christ endured the cross for us. If He sees fit to lead us
through trying times, He will sustain us so that our joy will
be richer for having endured the trial. As Paul met new tri-
als, his eyes were on the “far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory” that would come to him because of them. He
was not looking at his troubles in the light of the present, but
in the light of the future eternal results.
14 YOU CAN HAVE
If our heart is not at peace, what do we think we need to
make it so? Write down what it is and take a good look at it.
Now honestly ask, “Would its attainment restore the peace
and quiet we want in our soul?” Satan wants us to think, as
Eve did, that what God has withheld is something to be
desired. (See Gen. 3:1-6.) Be sure that peace for our soul is
found in our willingness to let God have His way in our cir-
cumstances.

FOLLOWING THE SHEPHERD

The Shepherd is waiting for us to follow Him. We will gain
nothing by murmuring and rebelling against His purposes;
we will only make our misery greater. But, if we yield to Him,
then He will fill our heart with joy and peace. If there is fail-
ure and sin, we must confess it, and believe that He forgives
it according to His promise: “If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
What comfort for the weakest child of God who is submis-
sive enough to trust Him: “You will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You
… In YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength” (Isa. 26:3-4). To
the extent that we are able to do this, we will have a steady
peace which changing circumstances cannot take away.
It is a great thing to be persuaded by the Lord’s love. The
Lord of heaven and earth loves us with an everlasting love,
which fills the heart and casts out fears. There is no other
remedy. We do not need to say, “I am resolved in the future to
do better.” That would be leaning on self. Don’t do it! Just say
over and over again: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not
want. All His resources are mine. I can lean on Him.”
But if we refuse to hear His voice, His blessings will be far
from us and we will have nothing but self to fall back on in
the shifting circumstances of life. Whether we admit it or not,
when we are out of touch with the Shepherd, we are in trou-
ble. Is there anything then that we cannot submit to, if it is
the will of Him who sacrificed Himself on the cross for us?
A HAPPY LIFE 15

ADJUSTING OUR ATTITUDES

It is not circumstances that make us happy or unhappy, but
our attitude towards them. We are always striving to control
our circumstances, and are able to do so to some degree. But
many circumstances are beyond our control. Our tendency is to
become discontented or even bitter when things do not go the
way we want them to go. We act like children, crying or sulk-
ing or throwing a tantrum when we can’t have our own way.
On the other hand, some are able to make the best of what
can’t be changed, by adjusting to their circumstances. Paul
said: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”
(Phil. 4:11). A Christian knows he is a beloved child of God,
and that His Father has all circumstances under control,
allowing only those things that are for our greatest good: “We
know that all things work together for good to those who love
God” (Rom. 8:28). This is true, without qualification.
We are able to face whatever circumstance comes up and
say with assurance: “My Father has a lesson for me to learn.
He has a blessing for me in this. He’s giving me a golden
opportunity to exercise patience, submission, faith and confi-
dence in Him as His child.”
Read the life of Christ in the Gospels. Look at the circum-
stances He passed through. They were surely not what the
natural man would like: fleeing for his life to Egypt as a baby
(Mt. 2:13-14); working as a carpenter in the despised town of
Nazareth (Mk. 6:3; Jn. 1:46); having nowhere to lay His head
(Mt. 8:20); called crazy by His friends (Mk. 3:21); called a
demoniac by the crowd (Jn. 8:48). What scoffing He endured!
But He received all these circumstances from His Father’s
hand and found in them an opportunity to manifest His
divine nature.
Now each child of God has been made a partaker of that
same divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). He has Christ as His life. So
all the circumstances we are passing through are God-given
opportunities to let Christ take over and live out His life
through us. This is exactly what Paul meant when he said,
“For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
16 YOU CAN HAVE
This should be the Christian’s attitude toward the circum-
stances of life. And what a different outlook it gives to every-
thing! No longer are things seen by human standards as try-
ing and distasteful. They are now golden opportunities to
develop our spiritual life as “children of God … in the midst
of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine
as lights” (Phil. 2:15). Even afflictions when looked at this
way become an occasion for thanksgiving: “Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Th. 5:16-18).
A positive Christian attitude brings true contentment to
the child of God. All things are viewed as coming from the
tender hands of a loving Father and are opportunities to
learn valuable lessons in self-control, patience, faith and obe-
dience, while gaining a rich blessing. Outward circumstances
don’t make us happy or unhappy, but our inward attitude
towards them and towards God in them. Song writer Bill
Gaither puts it this way:

I found happiness, I found peace of mind,

I found the joy of living, perfect love sublime,
I found real contentment, happy living in accord;
I found happiness all the time,
Wonderful peace of mind,
When I found the Lord.

PEACE ASSURED
“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil.
4:7). Who does not desire such an experience: the perfect
peace of God Himself filling our hearts and minds? But why
just desire it when we can have it? It is there for every child
of God who wants it enough to meet the conditions.
Our Creator is the only one who fully understands the
workings of our minds and all those feelings that well up in
our hearts. Some of us have more emotional stability than
others and do not swing as far and as often between
extremes. Yet how few really know much of the perfect peace
A HAPPY LIFE 17
so necessary for true happiness. No matter how much or how
little we have experienced this sweet peace, we want more.
If we are hungry and neglect to eat the food God has pro-
vided to satisfy hunger, we can’t blame others if we starve.
Neither can we blame others if we are unhappy but don’t
make use of God’s provision for happiness. The whole fault
lies in us. It is important that we face this squarely; other-
wise we will never make use of God’s provisions.
In Isaiah 26:3 we read His first provision, which is trust:
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
You, because he trusts in You.” In Philippians 4:6-7 we find
the other two, which are prayer and thanksgiving: “Be anx-
ious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplica-
tion, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to
God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understand-
ing, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
These three things—trust, prayer and thanksgiving—can
give peace of heart and mind only to those who have full
assurance of salvation. Many have assurance of sins forgiven;
they know they are saved and have no doubt about their eter-
nal security through the finished work of Christ. Yet they are
often unhappy because they do not have that peace they
desire and which God intends for them. They are neglecting
these three simple tools.

TRUSTING GOD
What hinders us from trusting God? To trust Him we
must first surrender ourselves to Him. No child can trust his
father while walking in self-willed rebellion against him.
Neither can one confide in God while walking in disobedience
to Him. We know that He will not help us with something
that is contrary to His Word.
Our failure to believe that God’s way is always best makes
it hard to yield fully to Him and trust Him with all our heart.
With distrust comes lack of confidence. With lack of confi-
dence comes restlessness and unhappiness.
When Satan talked Eve into believing that God was with-
holding something good from her, she began to distrust God.
18 YOU CAN HAVE
He had told Adam that if they ate the forbidden fruit they
would die (Gen. 2:17). But Eve looked at the forbidden tree
and decided that it was “good for food … pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6). She relied
on her own judgment instead of yielding to God’s. What
unhappiness she plunged herself into!
Today this is still the root cause of all the unhappiness in
the world. Keep this fact clearly in mind: If we want happi-
ness and peace we must stop thinking we know better than
God what will make us happy. We need to be willing to yield
to Him and let Him have His own way with us. His infinite
love and His infinite knowledge assure us that He knows
what is best for us. His infinite power guarantees His ability
to make it happen.
We cannot let our thoughts go astray; we must keep them
on Him. Isaiah 26:3 tells us the Lord will keep us in perfect
peace if we keep our minds on Him and keep trusting Him.
Why let our thoughts run wild with anxious fear? The Lord
has all things under control. He is, after all, the One who is
above all and able to change all; and He wants to do what is
for our greatest good. If we trust Him completely and keep
our thoughts on Him, we will have peace of heart and mind.
Notice in the Psalms how often David talked to himself
about God’s care for him when he was cast down and
harassed with fears. He was taught by God to do this, and
was inspired to write these experiences for our encourage-
ment. For example, when depressed and fearful he wrote:
• “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise
Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (Ps. 42:11).
• “I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your
rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you”
(Ps. 116:6-7).
• “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be
afraid? … Though an army may encamp against me, my
heart shall not fear … For in the time of trouble He shall hide
me” (Ps. 27:1,3,5).
• “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You … In God I
have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”
A HAPPY LIFE 19
(Ps. 56:3-4).
We can never go wrong if we follow David’s simple method
of exhorting our own souls. It is not only psychologically cor-
rect, but also scripturally sound. We need to learn these vers-
es and repeat them over and over again when we feel
depressed, fearful or discouraged. Doing this will work won-
ders for us just as it did for David and many others who have
followed his example. It will help to keep our minds fixed on
the Lord instead of on our feelings or circumstances.

PROVISION OF PRAYER
Prayer is a wonderful provision of God to ease our bur-
dens, tensions and fears, and restore peace to our hearts and
minds. The value of prayer as a vital factor in a life of peace
and happiness can never be overestimated. (See Phil. 4:6-7.)
When we speak of the relationship of prayer to happiness,
we are not talking about a few minutes spent each day
repeating a stereotyped form of petition. Scriptural prayer is
pouring out our hearts to God in simple childlike trust:
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart
before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Ps. 62:8).
A school child comes to his father and says, “Father, will
you help me solve this problem? I don’t understand it.” From
this honest, simple request we can learn seven simple steps
that govern effective prayer:
1. The child is conscious that he is in the presence of
another person.
2. This person has the ability to solve his problem.
3. There is a relationship that the child is sure of—he’s
talking to his father.
4. He has confidence that his father has a personal inter-
est in him and his problem.
5. He openly confesses his need for help with the problem.
6. He states his problem as clearly as he can.
7. He confidently waits on his father to show him the solu-
tion.
When we take these same seven steps and apply them to
our prayer lives, they become simple rules for effective prayer:
20 YOU CAN HAVE
1. When we pray, visualize in our souls that we are
addressing a Person who is just as present as any earthly
father could be.
2. Think for a moment of who He is and of His infinite
power, wisdom and ability to understand and solve our prob-
lems.
3. Be conscious of our relationship with Him: He has
made us His children; He is our Father.
4. As our Father, He has a very personal interest in us
and our problems—more than any earthly father ever could.
If He gave up His dear Son to die on the cross for us, we can
be sure He is ready to give all that we need for our good.
So often we believe our prayers will be answered only if we
do something to merit an answer. Since we know deep down
that we have not been faithful to God, we feel we don’t
deserve what we are asking for. Therefore, we don’t have con-
fidence that He will answer. We must change our thinking.
Never ask anything on the grounds of personal merit, but
simply on the grounds of our relationship with a loving
Father who takes a personal interest in us. After all, by His
grace He made us His for eternity. The Lord Jesus said: “If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your chil-
dren, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask Him!” (Mt. 7:11).
5. Since we are relying on our Father’s personal interest
in us, and not our merits, we can freely confess our ignorance,
our inability, and even our failure to Him. If there is any
guilt weighing on our conscience, we should confess it to Him
and get the burden lifted. He is more than ready to forgive,
for He already settled the account when He gave His Son to
die on the cross for us. Thus we can have confidence as we
present our problems to Him. (See 1 Jn. 1:9.)
6. Tell Him what our problems are as honestly as we can.
So often, when we don’t really understand our problems, talk-
ing them over with our Father helps us get a clearer under-
standing of them. The very act of putting our problems into
words gives us a clearer picture of them. Then too, telling
Him about them gives Him an opportunity to give us a clear-
er picture of what our real need is.
A HAPPY LIFE 21
He invites us to bring our requests to Him, but we are not
telling Him something He does not already know. In fact, He
knows them better than we ever will! By unburdening our
hearts to Him, we get in touch with Him about them.
7. Confidently expect that, because of His personal inter-
est in us, He will give us the solution to our problems at the
right time. This attitude opens the way for Him to lead us
into the right solution, or to solve our problems through
divine intervention.
The invitation to bring our requests to God—“in every-
thing by prayer and supplication”—does not necessarily mean
long hours spent on our knees pouring out our hearts in
prayer. While quiet times are important, we cannot over-
stress the importance of constantly talking to God about
everything during our daily activities.
This is what is meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray with-
out ceasing;” and in Ephesians 6:18: “Praying always.”
Habitually referring everything to our Father in the midst of
our daily routine keeps us in touch with Him so that His
peace can keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

VALUE OF THANKSGIVING
If we are sad and depressed, we need to try thanksgiving.
If we are discouraged and feel like complaining, we must try
praise. God tells us in His Word that we should be found “giv-
ing thanks always for all things to God the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). Let’s discover
how we can do this.
The prophet Jeremiah was greatly depressed as he listed
many things that weighed him down: “He has set me in dark
places … He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out … He
has made my paths crooked” (Lam. 3:6-7,9). In all, he named
some thirty complaints about his desperate circumstances,
ending on this sad note: “My strength and my hope have per-
ished from the LORD” (Lam. 3:18).
He felt as though he was hopelessly sinking under his bur-
dens. But then his thoughts suddenly turned to God and he
broke out with another thought altogether: “This I recall to
22 YOU CAN HAVE
my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’S mercies
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The LORD
is my portion … therefore I hope in Him” (Lam. 3:21-24).
What a change! And that’s always the way it is when we turn
to God in our troubles. We find there is so much to thank
Him for.
We should take all our sorrows to the Lord, and give Him
the opportunity to show us why these things are in our life;
but we should never leave His presence without thanking
Him for all our blessings. This will surely turn our complain-
ing into praise, and our depression into rejoicing. Paul made
no mistake when He wrote, “In everything give thanks.” He
knew what was needed to lift us up. The unconverted have
nothing to fall back on in times of trouble. But we have the
eternal God with unlimited resources who takes a personal
interest in us.
How sad to see so many confused and burdened Christians
disregarding the Lord’s gracious offer: “Come to me, all you
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt.
11:28). How grateful we should be, knowing that He will sus-
tain us when we come to Him with all our burdens. We
should even thank Him for our troubles, since they bring us
closer to Christ and are stepping stones to a higher spiritual
plane. (See 2 Cor. 12:7-10.)
Some of us bring our burdens to the Lord, but are still
weighed down with them, because we do not heed the Lord’s
simple instructions to give thanks in everything. If we did
this every time we talked over our troubles with the Lord, we
would find our souls uplifted by the awareness of our many
blessings. We remain preoccupied with our troubles, when
instead we should go on our way rejoicing because we have a
loving Father who never fails His children. Praise and thanks
work wonders.

EXAMPLE FOR US
If the Lord Jesus exhorts us to give thanks in every situa-
tion, He is not asking us to do something He Himself did not
A HAPPY LIFE 23
do. We should never forget that He was tested in every point
just as we are. When He was tested by that unrepentant gen-
eration, even after all His labors of love and mighty miracles,
notice how He reacted: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth … for so it seemed good in Your sight” (Mt. 11:25-
26). And in Luke 10:21, where the same incident is recorded,
we find it also recorded that “Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit.”
As always, in these trials He saw His Father’s hand and
heard His Father saying, “This is from me.” He recognized
that His Father had power over heaven and earth, so He will-
ingly bowed to His ordering of these painful circumstances,
giving thanks. If we yield to our Father, we too will find great
relief from distressing circumstances and also find renewed
strength in our souls.
If we are not inclined to answer and say, “Thank you,
Father,” it only proves that our own wills are not surrendered
to His. We don’t want Him to have His way with us, and so
we fret and complain, making ourselves still more miserable.
Don’t forget that in all circumstances, we respond to God
who is speaking to us through them. Our response may be,
“Thank You, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.” Or
we may say, “Father, I won’t thank You because I don’t want
what seems good in Your sight.” We might be thinking, “I
would never say such a thing to my heavenly Father.” But if
we fret and complain about our circumstances, our response
has no other meaning than that to God.
When we learn the Lord’s secret of rejoicing in adverse
and painful circumstances, we will find rest for our souls. His
delight was in His Father’s will. We too will find happiness
when we give up our will for His. But we must try it to see
what a wonderful change it will make. Our painful circum-
stances may not change, but we will see a rainbow in the
cloud and hear a song in the night.
Perhaps our Father has ordered our difficult circumstances
just to teach us to yield to Him and say, “Not my will but
Yours be done.” If this is the case, when His end is achieved in
our lives, He will alter our circumstances accordingly.
The Lord found peace in the midst of trials by submitting
to them and thanking His Father for them. We will find
24 YOU CAN HAVE
peace too if we do likewise. There is no other way. We cannot
get peace by worrying or complaining. The more we yield our
will to His, the more we will find the peace and joy of Christ
in our souls.

LEARNING FROM HIM

When the Lord says, “Learn from Me,” it is as if He were
saying: “I know what I am talking about. I am your Creator
who became your Redeemer. Don’t be deceived by your own
reasoning or by the opinions of men. Learn from Me, and you
will find rest. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. But the
yoke of self-will and sin is heavy with conflict and bondage.”
Would our loving Creator and Redeemer deliberately
make it hard on us if we surrender our will to His? Of course
not! As our perfect example, Jesus submitted to the Father
when He said: “Father … not my will, but Yours, be done”
(Lk. 22:42). We are called to do likewise: “I beseech you …
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and per-
fect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2).
Our will, if not surrendered to God, is self-will. And self-
will is the root of all the sin, misery and unhappiness that
has ever come into our lives. Don’t be deceived: it is not
Satan, other people or our circumstances that bring about
unhappiness in our lives; it is self-will. But God’s Son came
into this world to do His Father’s will in love for us that we
might have rest and happiness. A will surrendered to God is
the gateway to happiness.

FINDING REST
To have a happy life, it is essential to be at rest. In
explaining the way to find this rest, our Lord says: “Come to
Me … Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me … and you
will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My bur-
den is light” (Mt. 11:28-30).
A HAPPY LIFE 25
The One who asks us to take His yoke upon us, gave us an
example when He submitted to His Father’s will saying,
“Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:9). To
find rest we too must surrender our wills to God’s. That’s
what it means to “take My yoke upon you.” Have you ever
seen a yoke of oxen? When they are yoked up, they submit
their will to the master.
Sin is the cause of all unhappiness in God’s universe, and
the root of all sin is self-will, or substituting our will for
God’s. Not only does this bring us into conflict with our
Creator, but it also creates a conflict within us.
A child of God receives a new, divine nature when he is
born again. This divine nature loves God and hates sin. The
Christian also has the Spirit of God dwelling within him. For
these reasons, inner conflict arises when a child of God yields
to self-will and sin.
When we make something, we have the right to govern its
use. Likewise, God has a right to say what we should do,
because He has created us. When we buy something, it
belongs to us. God has purchased us with the blood of His
Son: “You are not your own … you were bought at a price;
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). When a child is born, he is expect-
ed to obey his parents. When a person is born again, God
expects obedience from him (Jn. 3:3; 1 Jn. 5:18; 1 Pet. 2:1-2).
We cannot disregard God’s threefold claim over us—as His
creation, His possession and His children—and expect inner
peace. We must recognize God’s rights. Therefore, if we exert
our self-will in rebellion against God’s will, inner conflict
results.

HIS POWER
The power of God is so overwhelming that it should strike
terror in the soul that is out of harmony with Him: “Even the
demons believe—and tremble!” (Jas. 2:19). The power of God
causes them to tremble. The legion of demons that possessed
the maniac of Gadara trembled when Jesus commanded them
to depart from him, because they knew His irresistible power
26 YOU CAN HAVE
(Lk. 8:31). Only man is foolish enough to try to persuade him-
self that he has nothing to fear: “The fool has said in his
heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 53 :1).
Paul knew of this latent fear in the heart of men and he
used it to awaken them to their need for the gospel:
“Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men” (2 Cor. 5:11). There is an unconscious fear of God in
every human being regardless of how ungodly he is or how
much he tries to suppress it. Man’s cursing, swearing and
statements of unbelief are an effort to drown the innate fear
of God that is troubling him because he knows he is out of
harmony with God.
No one can ignore the power of God and expect to have
peace: “God is greatly to be feared … and to be held in rever-
ence by all those around Him” (Ps. 89:7). It is this inherent
fear of God latent in every human soul that Christ appeals to
when He says, “I will show you whom you should fear: Fear
Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes,
I say to you, fear Him!” (Lk. 12:5).
He goes on to couple this fear of God’s power with a sense
of confidence in God’s care for them: “Are not five sparrows
sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten
before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many spar-
rows” (Lk. 12:6-7).
The Lord continues to develop our sense of security with
these examples of God’s care: “Consider the ravens … God
feeds them … How much more value are you than the birds?
… Consider the lilies … If then God so clothes the grass …
how much more will He clothe you … Your Father knows
that you need these things … all these things shall be added
to you” (Lk. 12:24,27-28,30-31). What a comfort to experience
God’s awesome power over us and His care for us. Elizabeth
Cheney wrote:

Said the robin to the sparrow,

“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Fear and fret and worry so?”
A HAPPY LIFE 27
Said the sparrow to the robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me!”

HIS WILL
It is a self-evident truth that God’s power is always subject
to His will. If we are sure that we are His, then we can be sure
that He is working out His will for our present blessing and
our eternal good. He has irresistible power to carry out His
wonderful purpose concerning us. With this in view then, let’s
look at three statements about God’s will for His children.
First, in Ephesians 1:4-5, we learn what God’s will was for
us even before creation: “He chose us in Him before the foun-
dation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption
as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will.”
Who could ask for a higher place than to be His sons
brought into His eternal favor? Could anything be more
blessed than this? Angels are creatures before the Creator,
but we are beloved sons of our Father. And all this because it
was the good pleasure of His will.
Second, we know His purposes concerning us in the ages
to come from Ephesians 2:4-7: “But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ … that in the ages to come He might show the exceed-
ing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus.”
Here God reveals that in the future, His will is for us to
discover the exceeding riches of His grace. Surely, God could
not give anything greater than this! Why should we fear His
power when we know the good pleasure of His will concerning
us? His power, in fact, is our guarantee that His purpose con-
cerning us will be accomplished in due time.
Third, in Romans 8:28 we find His purposes revealed in
the events and circumstances that touch us in our daily lives:
28 YOU CAN HAVE
“And we know that all things work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are the called according to His
purpose.” Should we dread His irresistible power and
sovereign will when we know that He is making all things
work together for our present and eternal good?
How narrow-minded of us to complain about our circum-
stances in the face of such plain statements! What a shame-
ful way to treat our God who has willed such marvelous
things for us! We cannot have peace in our soul when self-will
and a refusal to submit reveal our distrust in God.
Remember, we are fighting in vain when we fight against
God: “Woe to him who strives with his Maker” (Isa. 45:9).
Putting our trust in the One “who works all things according
to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11) is the happiest thing we
can ever do.

SEARCHING SELF
Can we pray this practical prayer from our heart? “How
precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is
the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more
in number than the sand … Search me, O God, and know my
heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps.
139:17-18, 23-24).
If we search, we will find that God, in His great love for
us, will show us both what is causing our trouble and what is
hindering our peace. Thinking about His will for us should
bring great peace. And thinking about His power should
assure us of His good purposes concerning us. However, if we
are not submissive, we should tremble, because we will dis-
cover that self-will leads to grief.
The children of Israel were self-willed, and great sorrow
resulted: “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the LORD,
‘who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but
not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who … go
down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen
themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the
shadow of Egypt!’ … The Egyptians are men, and not God …
A HAPPY LIFE 29
When the LORD stretches out His hand, both he who helps
will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will per-
ish together” (Isa. 30:1-2; 31:3). Now, contrast this to those
who love and do His will: “Great peace have those who love
Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Ps. 119:165).

HIS CHASTENING
It is foolish to think we can have happiness and peace
while showing disrespect for God’s power to chasten us: “For
whom the LORD loves he corrects, just as a father the son in
whom he delights” (Prov. 3:12). As His children we should
never disregard His authority. He is training His children: “If
we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when
we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may
not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:31-32).
How foolish to ignore His will and expect to have peace!
We know we can’t break His natural laws and expect to get
away with it. If we touch a live electrical wire we will get a
shock. If we take poison we will suffer the consequences. Just
as there are natural laws that operate in His physical cre-
ation, so there are moral laws that operate in His moral cre-
ation. We cannot ignore one any more than the other and
expect peace and prosperity. It is foolish to try.
In fact, many of God’s moral laws have both a moral and a
physical effect. For example, anger not only produces unhap-
piness but also effects the functioning of our vital organs. The
worry, anxiety and tension that follow a fit of rage make us
feel miserable and depressed. One hour of worry can cause
more physical exhaustion than a whole day’s work. How
many people are nervous, irritable and tired all the time sim-
ply because they are breaking the laws of God governing
their moral being!
But apart from these laws which have a uniform effect
upon both body and soul, there is also a direct dealing by God
resulting in discipline, correction, chastening, and training
for the practical holiness of His children, as well as for their
peace and happiness: “Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and
scourges every son whom He receives … Now no chastening
30 YOU CAN HAVE
seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless,
afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:6-7,11).
We should be aware that God’s hand is behind everything
that affects us in our bodies, our souls and our circumstances.
It is surprising how many of God’s children go through life
oblivious to this important fact. No wonder we drift along mak-
ing so little spiritual progress and having so little real peace. If
only we were more interested in learning the lessons and reap-
ing the benefits of His chastening, how much misery we could
spare ourselves and how much happier our lives would be.
God never wants to harm His children. He wants to deliv-
er us from those traits that are harmful and develop those
habits that produce peace and happiness. For example, if we
are inclined to be proud, God may allow someone to make a
derogatory remark about us for our own development. But if
we do not recognize this as God’s discipline for our correction,
we are likely to get angry and say or do something we may
regret later. However, if we see how God is delivering us from
pride and giving us an opportunity to show a Christ-like spir-
it of meekness, forbearance and grace, His chastening will
make us happy and peaceful.
God is always teaching us to renounce pride, hatred,
anger, irritability, resentment, jealousy, envy, worry and
anxiety, because these make us miserable and unhappy. He
uses circumstances to give us the opportunity to develop the
Christ-like traits of meekness, humility, gentleness, good-
ness, patience and self-control, because these produce peace
and happiness.
God’s chastening allows us an opportunity to renounce self
and develop that new nature we have as His children. If we
yield to His chastening and cooperate with Him in it, the
results will be inner peace and happiness. If we ignore His
discipline and decide to rebel, our Father may chasten us
through sickness, accident, loss or some other providential
means. He loves us too much to allow us to go on in self-will
which robs us of peace, joy and fellowship with Him. God can-
not make His children happy while they ignore “that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
A HAPPY LIFE 31

EXAMPLES OF CHASTENING
The Bible is full of examples of God’s chastening. In the
case of Jonah, God used a great storm, an east wind, a beat-
ing sun, a great fish and a worm to chasten and discipline
His rebellious prophet (Jon. 1:4,17; 4:7-8). God has all things
under His hand, and can use something as insignificant as a
worm for chastening when He so chooses.
He used leprosy when chastening Gehazi, Miriam and
King Uzziah (2 Ki. 5:20-27; Num. 12; 2 Chr. 26:16-19). The
sword, revolt and adultery were used with David (2 Sam. 11-
12). Storms, famines, sickness, locusts, wars, and so on were
repeatedly used by God to chasten His people for sin and
rebellion. In 1 Corinthians 11:30, Paul states that many were
weak and sick, and some even died under the chastening
hand of the Lord because of their sinful conduct.
An example for us today is that of a young woman dying
from cancer. As a child, her godly mother taught her to know
the Lord; but after her mother’s death she drifted far into the
world. Her battle with cancer brought her to the point where
she could say: “My suffering will soon end in death, but the
Lord has been speaking to me through it. I know why I had to
suffer, and it has resulted in happiness.” After a few weeks of
peaceful suffering, the Lord took her home. Only the Lord
knows how much suffering she might have been spared if she
had surrendered to Him sooner.
While God uses sickness, accidents, and other trying situa-
tions to chasten His children, we must never conclude that
God is disciplining us only because of sin. (This was the mis-
take Job’s friends made regarding his suffering.) The Lord
often uses sufferings and trials to draw us closer to Him. He
may seek to strengthen our faith by putting us in situations
where we have to depend upon Him.
When others are suffering, it is never wise to think that
God is chastening them for wrong doing. We are not to judge;
that’s God’s business. However, when we are being chastened
personally, we should ask God whether He intends it as cor-
rection, training for usefulness, or character development. If
32 YOU CAN HAVE
we do not get in touch with Him about His purpose, and coop-
erate with Him, we will not gain the happiness and peace He
intends for us. Remember, God’s dealings are a reality, and
we will suffer great loss if we pass over them lightly. On the
other hand, they will contribute greatly to our peace and hap-
piness if we take them seriously. We can brighten our testi-
mony for Him by cheerfully accepting our trials.

HIS PURPOSE
No matter what our circumstances, there is no reason to
become upset or discouraged, because God is ordering them
for our good (Rom. 8:28). This is the blessed truth that God
wants His children to grasp. With a surrendered will and a
confident heart, the child of God should be able to take every-
thing from his Father without fretting or fighting. Instead,
we should look for the benefit in it.
Let’s make a mental list of all the things that upset us.
Are others hurting our feelings? Are our surroundings getting
to us? Do we seem to be battling against overwhelming odds?
Are we nervous, tense and unhappy? Doesn’t the God who
allowed these circumstances also have the power to change
them? Then why doesn’t He? Because we know He does not
send trials just to see us suffer, we can be sure that He has
some lessons for us to learn.
How did Christ act in the circumstances of his life? Was he
upset by them? No, He took them from his Father with a
submissive heart, as an opportunity to display His own divine
nature. Now He is abiding in us by the Holy Spirit as our
source of power and strength for daily living. We need to let
Him take over and live His life through us so we can find His
peace and happiness. Like Paul, we want to be able to say,
“For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
Nothing will give such peace and happiness as a life lived
in conscious harmony with our heavenly Father’s plan for us.
Let’s yield our lives to God and view our circumstances as
ordered for our good. Let’s see in them a God-given opportu-
nity to live in harmony with His purposes for our lives. If we
do this, we will experience His sustaining power and His
A HAPPY LIFE 33
peace. Our circumstances may never change, but our lives
will take on new meaning that will make for peace, happiness
and a life worth living.

UNSELFISH SERVICE
A self-centered person never serves others unless there is
something in it for him. But how different is the service of the
child of God who finds true satisfaction and happiness in
doing unselfish deeds. His good deeds are a source of joy and
a spontaneous expression of his new nature.
Every born-again child of God has been made a partaker of
the divine nature. This new nature is implanted in the believ-
er by God’s Spirit through the Word. It finds its greatest plea-
sure in helpful service to God and man. The believer can only
be happy as he lives this kind of life.
Why did God redeem us by sacrificing His own Son? Why
was Christ willing to die for our redemption? Because His
own nature found its pleasure in unselfish love and service to
others. A child of God partakes of this same divine nature
and so unselfish service makes him happy. But a self-cen-
tered life depresses the believer and makes him miserable
and unhappy.
We can only be happy when we act in accordance with our
new nature which always finds its greatest pleasure in
unselfish service to God and to man. But to understand why
a true child of God is often unhappy, we must remember that
we have two natures with opposite tendencies: a new, divine
nature that we have received from God when we were born
again; and our perverted, fallen nature that we have received
from Adam by natural birth. To the extent that we yield to
the natural, we will be unhappy.

POWER OVER SIN

Sin is destructive to happiness because it conflicts with the
divine nature of the believer. It produces a humiliating sense
of defeat. When we do things that our conscience condemns
we feel miserable. We may try to forget about it but that is no
34 YOU CAN HAVE
solution to our difficulty. Power over sin is the only thing that
can make us happy. But how can we get that power?
Before he learns the secret of victory, every born-again
believer commits sins that he hates but seems powerless to
overcome. Here is Paul’s description of this struggle that
leads to finding victory in Jesus: “For I know that in me (that
is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells … For the good that I will
to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is pre-
sent with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in
the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see anoth-
er law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me
from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ
our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of
God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:18-25).
There are three laws spoken of in these verses. The law of
God is that revelation of His will for man. The law of the
mind is the working of the new nature in every born-again
soul that delights in the will of God and hates sin. The law of
sin is the working of the old nature that always wants to
have its own way in opposition to God’s will. These two
natures—the divine nature that every Christian receives
from God, and the sinful nature derived from Adam by natu-
ral birth—are entirely opposed to one another. One loves and
clings to sin, while the other loves and desires to do the will
of God. Struggles result, and the believer is sad whenever he
gives way to sin.
This experience of struggle and defeat, often prolonged for
months and even years, is very humiliating and painful. But
it brings the believer to realize two things: that there is no
good thing in him by nature; and that even after he has been
made a partaker of the divine nature he has no power in him-
self to carry out the will of God.
While learning these painful truths, of our utter sinfulness
and powerlessness to combat sin in our own strength, we
often cry out in desperation as Paul did: “O wretched man
A HAPPY LIFE 35
that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
(Rom. 7:24). We have to learn that if we are ever to get the
victory over sin, the power has to come from a source outside
ourselves.
As soon as we look outside for a deliverer, we discover
Jesus Christ as the answer to our agonizing cry, “Who will
deliver me?” He is the only One who can set us free from both
the condemnation and power of sin.

HAPPY LIVING
Much of the misery of this struggle with sin is due to the
conscience continually condemning the believer for giving way
to sin. But the great and glorious fact of the gospel of God’s
grace is that though our conscience condemns sin, God never
condemns us, because He sees us in Christ, who has already
paid our penalty for sin on the cross. So we are free and
beyond condemnation and judgment: “There is therefore now
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
The life we now have flows down from Him, its fountain
and source, into our souls. “Because I live, you will live also”
(Jn. 14:19), are His own words to us. Our response is: “Christ
… is our life” (Col. 3:4). This is the great soul-delivering truth
of God. He does not see us in our old nature any more. He is
done with that and sees us only in the new life we have in
Christ. And He has given us His Spirit to dwell in us, to
develop His new life in us and to give us His power over sin.
So Christ is the answer to all of our struggles. We must
stop trying to overcome the sinful tendencies of our old
nature in our own strength and begin to let Him work in us
that deliverance and victory over sin we so much long for.
Likewise, we have no power to produce fruit, even though in
our new nature we long to do so. What relief from our misery
when we come to the end of ourselves and begin to trust Him.
When we realize our powerlessness and look to the Lord, He
gives victory over sin and produces fruit that brings joy and
peace.
Christ gave us a simple illustration of how this works: “As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the
36 YOU CAN HAVE A HAPPY LIFE
vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine,
you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him,
bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (Jn.
15:4-5). Where did the branch get the power to produce such
wonderful fruit? Not from itself, but from the vine which
sends its invigorating sap flowing into the branch to produce
fruit.
Never lose sight of the great fact that Christ is the answer
for every trouble. Without Him we cannot overcome. The
more we keep in touch with Him the more fruit we will pro-
duce. Without Him fruit bearing is impossible. Without Him
we will never have true and lasting happiness. He is the
source of all joy. In Him we can have a happy life!

“These things I have spoken to you,

that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

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