Youniversity Part 5 by Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Chase for Happiness

Sometimes everybody is chasing happiness. The only issue is that we can become so addicted to happiness that we no longer care how we get it. As a human being, you are generally chasing what makes you happy. You wore what you wore today because it makes you happy. You eat what you eat because it satisfies you. You surround yourself with people who make you feel something.

God is not against happiness — He actually wants you happy. But the danger is that you begin to overrate happiness. When that happens, you no longer care how you get it. And there is a very important difference between short-term happiness and long-term happiness.

Sometimes you need to do something that does not make you happy in the short term to gain something that will make you happy in the long run. People who are miserable are often making a lot of short-term happiness decisions that guarantee long-term unhappiness.

For example: staying up to study versus sleeping. The short-term happiness is sleep. But that sleep shortens toward failure. God wants you to reach a stage where you can defer short-term pleasure for long-term gain. That process is called wisdom.

Wisdom is the Instrument of True Happiness

Proverbs 3:16–18 — Wisdom offers long life as well as wealth and honor. Those three things — long life, wealth, and honor — only bring happiness together. They are distinct. You can have wealth without honor. You can have honor without wealth. But wisdom brings all three.

Those who become wise are happy — because wisdom gives them all of these. And this wisdom is the wisdom of God.

There is a difference between wisdom and intelligence. Intelligence comes because someone is brilliant — and we cannot all be at the same level of intelligence. Some people are more cerebral than others in certain areas. But when it comes to wisdom, all of us have equal access. Wisdom is simply acting on the Word of God. That's the definition. Anybody can apply it. You don't have to be smart, you don't have to be brilliant — if you can submit to and obey the Word of God, you are called wise.

Matthew 7:24 — "Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon the rock."

Everybody is eligible. Nobody is superior to you in this. When it comes to the things of God, that is the only place where everybody has a fair chance.

The First Key: Don't Compare Yourself with Anyone

2 Corinthians 10:12 — "They measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise."

Comparison is foolishness in the economy of God. It is not the wisdom of God. It is not His advice. Social media is the modern theatre of comparison — people commend themselves, post their best picture, present their best life. You are looking at a highlight reel and comparing it to your behind-the-scenes.

Life is in phases — many sizes. You have to learn to trust God's timing. Trust that if this door hasn't opened yet, there is a reason. Don't force doors. The reason you force things is that you are comparing yourself to someone who already has what you are chasing.

3 John 2 — "My beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health." Prosper here means progress — not necessarily wealth. No matter what level of life you are at, you can make progress. And that small progress is what brings happiness. The reason you are belittling where you are is that you are comparing yourself with someone who has made bigger progress.

Just by being alive, you can be happy. Don't postpone your happiness. You can be happy right now. God has pocketed for you within your soul everything that is necessary for a life of happiness — nobody can take it.

When God gives you His own timing, trust it. There was a house that a friend took first — it needed so much repair that he spent more than the rent to fix it. Weeks later, a house came out that had barely been used — the best landlord in the world, never increased the rent, spent half the rent making improvements. When God is doing His thing, you must not get angry when it seems that someone has taken something that was yours. You don't know what God is protecting you from.

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn. Even when you know someone deserves what is happening to them, don't say it — because if God gave us everything we deserved, none of us would like it. Mercy makes you not receive the judgment you deserve. Grace makes you receive the goodness you don't deserve.

The Second Key: Don't Consume Unnecessarily

Human beings have a natural tendency for greed. We don't take what we need and leave the rest — we take everything.

Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 — Solomon conducted a research project on happiness. He tried laughter. He said it was madness. He built houses, planted vineyards, made gardens and parks, planted every kind of tree, built reservoirs, bought slaves, had flocks more than anyone in Jerusalem, amassed silver and gold, acquired singers and a harem — everything his eyes desired, he gave to himself. "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless — a chasing after the wind."

The richer the man, the more he could indulge his every desire. And the more he indulged, the less things satisfied. The Bible says: "For the full person, honey is tasteless" (Proverbs 27:7). When you have everything available at all times, nothing tastes special anymore.

The best way to enjoy something is to space it out. Denying yourself temporarily is what makes enjoyment richer. If you are honest with yourself, there are times when a simple bowl of soup tasted sweeter than anything you've had at an expensive restaurant — because of the context, the hunger, the gratitude.

Ecclesiastes 2:24–26 — "A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God — for without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness."

Your enjoyment is not in the size of the food. It is in the grace of God over the food. Trust God even for your enjoyment.

The Problem with Anxious Striving

Ecclesiastes 2:22–23 — "What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving? All their days their work is grief and pain. Even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless."

Anxiety is not going to make traffic move. Being anxious throughout the journey will not get you there faster. The Bible in Philippians 4:6 says: instead of being anxious about anything, pray about everything. Release it to God. Peace comes.

Don't impose artificial deadlines on yourself that make you miserable. "I must marry by the end of this year." Remove that self-imposed pressure. Life is so specific to you — it is custom-made. Your route cannot be anybody else's route. Nobody can judge whether you are going the right direction, because your direction may be entirely different.

If you are in school and the course isn't the right fit, it is okay to pause and find the right one. If your child didn't gain admission this year, it is okay. Trust God's timing for their destiny. You don't even know their full calling yet — you might be pushing them toward something God never designed them for.

In everything, trust God's timing. Trust His method. Trust everything about it. That is what trust really means.