Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you are starting the brand new year with God firmly seated on the throne of your life!

God wants you to be happy. He really does. And we want ourselves to be happy. Don’t we? So, we are in agreement with God as far as that goes. But the way both parties are going to try to achieve that are different. We have our way and God has His way.

My 4 year old wants to be happy. I want her to be happy. We are in agreement with that. But the way that is going to be achieved is very different in our minds. I often make her unhappy temporarily in order to give her the best chance of being happy more permanently. God makes us unhappy temporarily in order to give us the best chance of being happy permanently.

My 4 year is often so sure that her way will give her more happiness than my way. So, I have to discipline her to want my way rather than her way. Her way will eventually lead to unhappiness. When she matures, she will see that my way was better and will obey willingly without discipline. (I don’t believe in, “Make your own decision. It’s your life!” She WILL choose wrong because she’s a sinner!)

We are so sure our way will give us more happiness than God’s way. So, God disciplines us to want His way rather than our way. Our way will eventually lead us to unhappiness. When we mature, we will see that His way was better and will obey willingly without discipline.

That’s heaven. Someone asked me if we can sin in heaven. I said, “Yes, we can, but we won’t because we won’t want to!”

Why won’t we want to? Because we will have the ultimate in God. At Maui with my lovely wife, I wasn’t tempted by the sewers of Tacoma.

PH