If you're happy and you know it.....

This is SO true! 

How many of us are really  happy? Really satisfied?  The more we complain about what we don't have or what we wish we had, the less we see all the that we do have right in front of our eyes.  The more thankful we are, the happier we will become, not the other way around. We need to find satisfaction and contentment in our own lives; in all the countless blessings that the Lord has given each and every one of us. We need to stop looking at others and what they have. If we keep comparing what we have to what others have, we are missing out on our own blessings and happiness.  What I have may not look like what you have and vice versa. But that doesn't mean that any one of us is less blessed than the other.  We need to be so very thankful to the Lord, He satisfies all our needs and He has and always will provide for us.  Hosea 13:5-6(NIV)  says:
  I cared for you in the wilderness, 
   in the land of burning heat. 
  When I fed them, they were satisfied; 
   when they were satisfied, they became proud; 
   then they forgot me.

How often is this what we do? How many times do we pray, plead for something? We finally get it and are so happy and thankful....until we find something new that we are missing in our life. Then begins the discontentment..again... the praying, the wanting, the total dissatisfaction and ungratefulness... then the short-lived happiness is gone...again.

I know I do this all the time and am feeling very convicted lately.  How can I be so blind and ungrateful to the countless blessings I have received and still be wanting more? When is it ever enough? Will there always be something more that I want?  When my husband was in Iraq I used to cry and beg for him to be home. Now he is home safe and sound (praise the Lord) and I am constantly complaining about how much he works and I hardly see him. I should be SO thankful that I know where he is every day. That he has a job. That he is safe and that he I wake up next to him every morning.  We used to live in a teeny tiny apartment and literally trip over each other and I would complain all the time about wanting a bigger place. Now we rent a 3 bedroom house and I am complaining that I want a newer more up-to-date house. Never satisfied... The list goes on... I  am learning to be thankful. Really, genuinely thankful from my heart.  It's a long process, but God's grace is all around me. And in learning to be truly thankful, I am finding happiness. 

It seems to be a vicious cycle. The less we give thanks, the less we are satisfied. The less we are satisfied, the more we are unhappy.  When really to be truly, fully satisfied, all we need is the Lord. His word. His love.  His faithfulness. His sacrifice on the cross for us.  Isn't that the greatest gift of all? Shouldn't that and the promise of eternal life with Him be more than enough for us to ever desire?? 

Praying for all of us to find true happiness in the Lord and giving Him all the thanks and praise He deserves.
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