Genesis 21:1 -7 …vs.6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

Many claim to have a message from God. Ministers, evangelist, teachers and writers of all types and sorts want you to believe their message is from God. They are all human.  How can you know a message is from God when it is delivered by a man? The only way you can be sure is if it comes from God’s word. You should be able to find the message delivered to you in the Biblical text the message came from. Even the best preachers and teachers can make mistakes. You should always read the scriptures to verify the message. If you find it in God’s word then you know it is God’s message.

What I am writing about here tonight I do not claim to be a message from God’s word. I’m using vs. 6 as a springboard text. A springboard is a text that is used to jump off into something that the speaker wants to talk about that is not directly derived from the text. I don’t do this very often and wanted to be up front about it. What follows are my own thoughts prompted by vs. 6.

We live in a very unhappy world. Many people are looking to find happiness. They look for happiness in romantic relationships. They look for happiness in work, wealth and fame. Many people are so focused on finding happiness in their own lives that they overlook one of the greatest sources of happiness; it is happiness in the lives of others. 

The ability to find happiness in the joy of others is a skill. It needs to be practiced and worked at. If the ability to share in the joy of others was easy and automatic everybody would be happy. It is not automatic and it is not easy. It requires that we look to discover the joy around us. We have to make the effort. It requires us to look away from ourselves. We have to stop focusing on the things that are stressing us out and making us unhappy. We have to be aware of, and fight the temptations of jealousy and envy. The effort of bringing joy to others and sharing in that joy can become the greatest source for happiness in our own lives. It is impossible to be truly happy when all we care about is our own happiness. It is also impossible to be completely unhappy when what we really care about is the happiness of others. Sharing in the joy of others is not always easy, but it is always worth the effort.