Everyone wants to be happy. According to the Declaration of Independence, we are all entitled to "the pursuit of happiness." Books on "how to be happy" flood the market. One popular book is titled, How To Be Happy Though Married.  Yet there are multitudes who are still unhappy.  Alcohol, drugs, and sex, only produce a fleeting happiness that is soon replaced with depression. The lottery hasn't made anyone happy over the long haul. Many admit they were happier before they won the lottery.
    Someone says, "If I just had this one thing, I'd be happy." No you won't. Happiness is not about things, but about thoughts. When Paul was brought before King Agrippa, he said, "I THINK myself happy…" (Acts 26:2). That is the secret of happiness. You must THINK yourself happy! 
    Happiness is not something you carry in your hands, but something you carry in your heart-- "For as he THINKETH in his heart, so is he…" (Prov. 23:7). Shady thinking will never produce a sunny life. If a person thinks thoughts of misery, they won't be happy. Don't search for happiness. Create happiness. Happiness is not sought; happiness is thought! 
    The roots of happiness are found deep within the soil of a healthy thought life. Happiness is a by-product of happy thinking-- "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK on these things"  (Phil 4:8). It's impossible to be unhappy when you obey this verse.
    Your circumstance is not the reason you are unhappy. Even though Paul was being false accused and a prisoner of Rome he could say, "I THINK MYSELF HAPPY!"  True happiness does not depend on how life treats you, but how you think about life. It's not your position in life that makes you happy, but your disposition!
    "I think myself happy…"  What do you think about yourself?

By Al Hughes

Pastor Bible Baptist Church, Port Orchard, WA