Don't Worry. Be Happy.

Did you know that God wants you to be happy? He does. He really does.

I know what you're thinking. Duh, of course God wants us to be happy. Why are you asking that question?

But often, Christians are walking around worrying about things going on in their lives, their families, their world. They are walking around looking sad and just truly unhappy. They complain about every little thing -- whether that be the electricity going out, mosquito bites, or even health problems.

Oh wait. I'm talking about myself here. I've been in Senegal for 6 weeks now. The power has been going out almost every day. The mosquitos here love me. I get at least one new souvenir bite every day. I've been sick 3 times -- and had to see a doctor 2 of those times. I've been on all kinds of medicine -- including medicines to treat the allergic reaction I had to one of those.

Through those times, I know I did not act happy all the time. I cried. I complained. I was just in a good ol' fashioned bad mood. And all the while I was not doing what God wanted me to do. I was not acting happy. I was worrying about everything and not letting God take control, like I know I was supposed to.

In Philippians 4:6, Paul writes "Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he's done." (NLT) There are 3 clear commands in this verse.

1) Don't worry about anything.

2) Pray about everything.

3) Thank God for all he's done.

It's simple. God is in control of our lives. God loves us and wants to help us. And we should let him. We should not worry about things in our lives. We should pray about it -- tell God what's going on, what we need help with, etc. -- and let God take care of it. And last, (but not least) we should thank God for everything. P.S. This doesn't just mean thank God for the good things. Everything happens for a reason (even bad things). We need to still thank God in the midst of our troubles.

Do you remember the Big Mouth Billy Bass? It was a popular item (at least it was in the South) during the 90's. It was this fish that was mounted on the wall and had this motion sensor on it. So when someone would walk by, it would start singing, "Don't worry. Be happy now..."