7/24/2023

Are you happy?  Really happy?  Many people believe that if they could just win the lottery, that would solve all their problems (at least it seems that way with so many people buying tickets that the most recent Powerball jackpot reached over 1 billion dollars.)  But does having more money automatically lead to more happiness? 

Americans are financially better off than they were 50 years ago.  In 1972, the median income (adjusted for inflation) was just over $60,000. Today, it’s a little over $70,000.

Jim Denison has written that though Americans are wealthier than we were fifty years ago, we’re not happier.  For example, in the last year, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline answered nearly five million contacts, nearly two million more than in the previous twelve months.

Anxiety is the most common mental disorder in the US.  Experiences of high psychological distress are especially widespread among young adults.  In a recent survey, 62 percent of respondents reported experiencing some degree of anxiety.  Harvard Medical School has found that 1 in 5 adults in America experience significant enough anxiety for it to be classified as a disorder.

When he was in prison, the Apostle Paul wrote to God’s church:  Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray.  Pray about everything.  He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come.  And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.  Philippians 4:6-7 (VOICE)

Do you know the peace of God in your heart—a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding?  If you want to know true happiness, true contentment, will you pray for that—realizing that all the money in the world can’t buy it.

-Michael