In pursuing happiness, we lose our joy

It sounds insane to make that statement- but in a since of Spiritual joy- joy from the Holy Spirit- ultimately the ONLY thing worthy of using the word joy, it's true. Listening to a podcast while running of Matt Chandler, the pastor at the Village Church- he preached on and around this very notion.The American dream is the ultimate example. What often starts out as good intentions: "I will work hard to provide for my family"- which is Biblical... turns into long hours, lost priorities, and joy escapes this notion as we pursue what we think will make us happy. We are our worst enemy. We drive ourselves into the ground chasing what we think will satisfy us... "If I could just get a promotion, then I'll be happy" "if I could just lose 10 lbs, then I'll be happy" "If I could just get married, then I'll be happy" When ultimately, the "happiness" we are longing for- can only be filled by our Creator. Our worldly desires for happiness will leave us exhausted and broken, and not satisfied like we had hoped- we'll simply begin chasing the next American Dream- instead of chasing the One who is worthy of being chased. As far as how do we go about shifting our ideas about happiness and joy? Ask the Father to reveal it to you. Ask for your eyes to be opened and ask for an increase in hunger for His love and His joy. And continue to ask and ask and ask. Pursue Him first and He'll bring you the desires of your heart.