Does God Want You To Be Happy, Healthy, And Wealthy?

The majority of Christian in America would say that one of God's primary concerns is their happiness, health, and personal wealth, thus the 25,000 plus that gather at Lakewood Community Church to hear Joel Osteen.  But is this really true?  Do these ideas about God really match up with what the Bible teaches?  Let's deal with each of these ideas individually.

Does God want you to be happy?  Absolutely, if your happiness and joy are in Him.  Galatians 5:22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is "joy."  However, it is important to distinguish biblical joy and happiness from the modern idea of these concepts.  Biblical joy and happiness are experienced in spite of difficulty and opposition, modern joy and happiness are experienced without any difficulty or opposition.  It is not uncommon for people to say, "I am happy because everything is going my way."  This phrase says that joy and happiness are experienced when trials and troubles are absent.  However, biblical joy is found in Jesus, not in circumstances.  Acts 6:41 says, "So they went on their way from the presence of the the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for His name."  Does God want you to be happy according to the world's standard of happiness?  Absolutely not, because the world's standard of happiness and joy are in direct opposition to the biblical practices present in God's Word.  God is not so much interested in your personal happiness as He is your personal holiness.

Does God want you to be healthy?  Absolutely, if it is spiritual health rather than physical health that is being addressed.  God's primary concern is not for the body but for the soul.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul."  Too often we are guilty of praying for physical healing simply for personal comfort.  We spend the vast majority of our time praying for people to be comforted rather than to be conformed to Christ.  But what if, instead of praying for people to be healed to feel better we prayed for people to be healed so that they were drawn to Christ, or others around them were drawn to Christ, and that God was glorified.  Now this is not to say that God is totally unconcerned for the physical health of people.  Indeed, He has taken the name Yahweh Rapha (the Great Healer) because it is a reflection of His nature and actions.  However, this does not mean, as those who would hold to prosperity teaching are prone to say, that God WILL heal everyone who has faith.  If this were the case then why did God refuse to heal Paul?  Paul says of his affliction in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me, and He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'"  God is not so much interested in your physical health as He is in your spiritual health.

Does God want you to be wealthy?  Absolutely, if it is wealth that is heavenly rather than worldly.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  If your wealth is in heaven then your thoughts will be upon heaven, conversely if your wealth is in this world then your thoughts will be upon this world.  Does God want you to be wealthy on this earth?  I am inclined to say no.  Throughout Scripture those who have wealth are commanded to be liberal in their giving.  Now this is not to say that wealth is inherently evil and that those who have it are wicked, but rather to say that wealth is a very seductive temptation that may be better avoided.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth."  God is not so much interested in your earthly wealth as He is in your heavenly wealth.

Does God want you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy?  Yes, if it is biblical happiness, spiritual health, and heavenly wealth that are being presented.  However, if it is emotional happiness, physical health, and earthly wealth then the answer may be, and often is, no.  Next time we will examine the danger of getting the emotional happiness, physical health, and earthly wealth that prosperity preachers say that God has planned for you.