WHERE HAPPINESS AWAITS (August 16, 2024)

Contented? Not likely. Vast majorities describe themselves as discontented, always seeking for what’s missing. Entire industries are engineered for keeping us that way. Algorithms cleverly exploit our fears and passions to keep us always scrolling. News outlets need us anxious about the crises that might happen. And—we’re told—we’ll be unsettled and unhappy. Inflation will eat up our paychecks; rising tides will claim our coastlands; hackers will discover passwords. So purchase many layers of things to keep yourself protected. Yet God’s good Word is always our corrective: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim 6: 6-7). Grace quiets what has always been our great anxiety—that God will turn His back, will cast us off, will give us only what we have deserved. In Jesus, heaven calmed our deepest fear: “For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). Those who most inhabit grace are always most contented. Mercy shown them soon becomes the mercy they show others. Friendships flourish; families strengthen. Anxious thoughts are quieted by God’s enduring promise. Make peace with grace, and you will surely stay in it. -Bill Knott