To know the Lord is to know the beauty of life.
When we come to know God, we begin to see life through His love, grace, wisdom, and goodness.Even in difficult seasons, knowing the Lord can help us recognize hope, find peace, appreciate the little things, and discover beauty in the life He has given us.
It reminds us that life’s true beauty is not found only in what we possess, but in the One who gives our lives meaning.
As Psalm 34:8 says: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Knowing the Lord opens our eyes to the beauty of life, because the closer we draw to Him, the more we learn to see His goodness in everything.
The truth is that our lives are not made up of the things we possess or the things we desire to possess. Those things may add comfort,pleasure, security, and convenience to our lives,but they are not the foundation of our lives, nor are they the ultimate source of our happiness.
Let us use your desire for a home as an example.
1. The home is something you desire,but it is not the source of your life.
Imagine that you desire a home of your own. You picture the rooms, the furniture, the peace of having your own space, the freedom to make decisions, and the feeling of finally having somewhere to call yours.
There is nothing wrong with this desire. A home can be a wonderful blessing.
However, consider this: you are already living before you have that home.
You already have the capacity to love, to laugh,to appreciate a beautiful morning, to experience God’s presence, to form meaningful relationships,and to find peace in moments of stillness.
Your life is already happening. Your ability to experience its beauty does not begin when you receive the keys to your house.
The house is something you hope to add to your life. It is not the thing that makes your life exist or gives your life its fundamental worth.
2. Why does it seem as though happinessis waiting for us in the things we desire?
When you desire a home, your mind may tell you:
“When I get my home, I will finally be happy. I will finally have peace. I will finally feel settled.Then I will be able to enjoy life.”
What happens here is that you begin to place your happiness in a future event.
You make your present life seem incomplete because something you want is missing.
Instead of experiencing the life you have now,you begin to experience the absence of the life you imagine you will have later.
You might have a beautiful day, but your mind says,”I will enjoy life more when I have my own home.”
You might experience a moment of peace, but your mind says, “I will have real peace when I am living in my own house.”
In this way, the desire for something can cause you to overlook the goodness that is already present.
The problem is not that you desire a home.The problem is believing that your happiness must wait until the home arrives.
3. What happens when you finally get the home?
Imagine that the day comes when you finally own your home.
You receive the keys, open the door, walk through the rooms, and feel the joy of having something you once only dreamed about.
That joy is real. You have achieved something meaningful, and you can be grateful for it.
But notice something important: the home has not created a new human being inside you.You are still you.
You are still the person who can experience love, gratitude, peace, sorrow, wonder, and joy.
The home has changed your circumstances.It has given you new possibilities and perhaps greater security. But it has not created your fundamental ability to experience happiness.
And after some time, the excitement of owning the home may settle into ordinary life. You begin thinking about repairs, bills, furniture, maintenance,or perhaps a bigger home.
Why?
Because the mind can become accustomed to what it once desperately wanted. Once the desired thing becomes familiar, it may no longer produce the same excitement.
If the house were the ultimate source of happiness,you might expect its possession to guarantee lasting happiness. But no material possession can guarantee that.
You can be grateful for your home without r home to make every moment of your life happy.
You can enjoy the house, rest in it, care for it,and celebrate it without making your inner peace entirely dependent on it.
4. So where does happiness come from?
This is where the deeper understanding begins.
Happiness is not simply a thing waiting outside of you, hidden inside a house, a car, a relationship,a job, or a particular level of wealth.
Our experience of happiness involves many things:our circumstances, our relationships, our physical and emotional well-being, our thoughts, our sense of meaning, and our ability to appreciate what is good.
From a Christian perspective, there is also a spiritual truth: your life finds its deepest meaning in God, not in the things God gives you.
Think about the difference.
There is a difference between saying:
“I will have peace because I have finally received the house I wanted.”
And saying:
“I am grateful for this house, but my peace does not have to depend entirely on possessing it. My life is held in God’s hands, and I can experience His goodness both before and after receiving this blessing.”
The first makes your peace conditional upon an outcome.
The second allows you to appreciate the outcome without making it the foundation of your existence.
This does not mean that faith eliminates sadness,disappointment, or the practical struggles of life.Nor does it mean that you should stop working towards your goals. It means that your relationship with God and your appreciation of life need not be postponed until your circumstances become ideal.
Jesus expresses a similar principle in Matthew 6:33:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be-added unto you.”
The point is not that you are guaranteed every possession you desire. Rather, it is that God,and the life of faith, take priority over the things you seek to acquire.
5. The difference between enjoying something and depending on it for happiness
Consider these two ways of approaching your desire for a home.
When happiness depends on possession
“I cannot fully enjoy my life until I have my own home.”
Your present life becomes a waiting room. You may overlook today’s blessings because you are focused on what is missing.
When you appreciate life while pursuing your desire
“I deeply desire my own home, and I will work towards it. But I do not have to withhold gratitude, love, or peace from myself while I wait.”
Your present life has value, and your futuregoal has value too. You can pursue the goal without making it the condition for living well.
Notice that the desire has not disappeared.You still want the house. You can plan, save,work, and pray for it.
What has changed is the meaning you give to the house.
It is no longer the thing that must complete you. It is something you hope to experience and enjoy as part of a life that already has value.
6. If you can be happy before getting the house, what does getting the house actually add?
It adds something real.
It may give you shelter, privacy, stability, freedom,a place to raise children, or somewhere to welcome people you love. These are genuine benefits,and it is perfectly reasonable to desire them.
The lesson is not that possessions are meaningless or that material circumstances do not affect happiness.
Rather, there is a difference between something that improves your life and something you believe gives your life its worth.
A home can improve the conditions in which you live without becoming the reason your life matters.
You can enjoy the blessing without worshipping the blessing. You can be grateful for what you receive without believing that you were somehowless worthy, less complete, or less capable of experiencing life’s goodness before you received it.
And if obtaining the house takes longer than you hoped, you do not have to conclude that life has been put on hold.
You may experience frustration, disappointment,or genuine hardship along the way. You can acknowledge those feelings honestly while still recognizing that your life contains meaning,relationships, opportunities, and moments of beauty.
7. The deepest point: do not confuse the object of your desire with the source of your happiness.
When you desire a home, you may actually be longing for what you associate with it: security, peace,independence, belonging, or a sense of stability.
The home may help you experience these things.But it is important to recognize that the physical object and the experience you hope to have through it are not identical.
You can experience moments of peace before owning a home. You can experience belonging without owning property. You can find meaning while still working towards greater stability.
Some things may be much harder to experience without adequate material resources, and it is important not to dismiss that reality. But even then, your entire capacity for happiness doesn’t have to be reduced to one unmet desire.
From the perspective of faith, you can also discover that the deepest security you seek is not ultimately guaranteed by a building, because material circumstances can change. Your trust in God gives you a different foundation from the things you own.
That is why the question is not simply, “How can I be happy without my house?”
It is also, “Can I learn to appreciate the life God has given me while I work towards the life I hope to build?”
The answer is yes.
Bringing it all together
Imagine that you are standing outside the home you have dreamed of owning.
You look at it and say, “One day, I hope to live in a place like this.”
There is nothing wrong with that thought.
But now imagine that you look at your life today and say:
“I do not own the home I desire yet, but I am still alive. I can still love. I can still grow. I can still know God. I can still experience gratitude, beauty,friendship, and moments of peace. My life is note moth simply because this one thing is missing.”
Then, one day, you finally get the house.
You rejoice. You give thanks. You enjoy it.
But instead of saying, “Now my life can finally begin,” you say, “This is a beautiful addition to the life I have already been given.”
That is the distinction.
You are not waiting for the house to give you permission to experience life. You are living your life now, and the house, when it comes,becomes something you can enjoy within it.
And perhaps this is what it means to know the Lord and to know the beauty of life: to understand that the greatest blessing is not merely receiving the things you desire, but learning to recognize the goodness of life and the presence of God without making your joy entirely dependent on what you possess.
You can desire the house without making it your happiness. You can receive the house without making it your identity. And you can lose things without concluding that you have lost the very reason for living.
The house may be a blessing in your life. But it is not the whole of your life.
The same perspective applies to so other situations. Whether you’re waiting on a spouse, a job or a promised child , your life in this moment is beautiful. The Lord is on His throne, Thank Him for waking up today, open your mouth and use your voice to glorify Him.
Don’t let the enemy keep you hostage in your emotions and flesh. God is spirit and so are you!
Your times are in the hands of the Lord. Trust that His plans for you are good. His counsel stands over your life.
You are blessed beyond you can image and may the Lord give you a heart that sees it.
May your week be blessed in Christ Jesus’s mighty name.
Shalom Shalom,
Reesha S.
IAC
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