How many times have you heard someone say, "When (this) happens, then I'll be happy." For some, it's "When I get a better job, then I'll be happy." Maybe "When I graduate", "When I get a new car", "When the kids go back to school", "When I retire, then I'll be happy."

That's how happiness is viewed by the world--the end result of something good that happened. However, many people know that's not the way it is. Even the founders of our country recognized this when they wrote, "All men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Happiness could never be a right, because some people will never be happy.

Think of some famous people who should have been happy by our world's definition who ended their lives in misery. Some had everything others ask for to be happy--fame, money, power. They had it all--except happiness.

Consider Luke 12:15, "Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Some people say, "Turn to Christ and be happy the rest of your life, because all your troubles are over." But Jesus never said, "Follow me and have no problems." Instead in John 10:10, He said, "I have come that they may have life..."--wait--What is life? Life is a journey from the time you're born till you die. Life is a series of events--some good, some bad. Ecclesiastes 7:14, "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other."

Ok, back to John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly."

However, the events that occur in life have no effect on a person's happiness. Just think of some people you know that went through tragedies. Paul wrote, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have been in danger from rivers, bandits, my own countrymen, and Gentiles."

Paul also wrote in Philippians 4:12, "I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

Consider Ecclesiastes 5:19, "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God." Happiness is not a right, it is a Gift.

When you hear good news and believe it, you are happy. But it is the fact first, the feeling next. In John 5:24, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned: he has crossed from death to life."

Here's the good news! When we have this promise, how can we be anything but happy?