Peace, happiness, and fulfillment are sought after. It seems everyone wants these things in their life. However, we can too often be seeking in the wrong places. We look for these things in our work, hobbies, friends, and plans. In times of uncertainty in life, we can look to business leaders for the “right” direction. In times of social turmoil and strife we look to civic leaders and politicians for solutions, looking for the person that will fix everything.
The problem is that man is weak, broken and imperfect. Relying on man and things and institutions of the world will always be wanting. The things we yearn for will not be found there. As a result, we must keep our trust in God who is perfect and knowing of all things in all that we do. It is he whom we must trust, not man and the world. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” (Psalm 118:8) If we want to navigate this world well, we must have God directing us. He will show us the only sure path to travel. Expecting to get that from anywhere else is useless. “…It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.” (CCC 150)
The very things that we look to and expect to make things great for us will be our demise. We fear the loss of these temporal things and focus on them, bringing wickedness to our lives, while ignoring God, and focusing on and trusting in him. Focusing on him and striving to live according to his will is what will bring the peace and happiness that we want. “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.” (Proverbs 10:24) Our thinking needs to shift from what we want to what God wants. More than that, we must cultivate a deep desire in his way and trust in him. This should be what drives us and what we pursue every day. “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my souls for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1)
Through a life of prayer and recollection, a loving heart, and living in God’s grace, we can come to the happiness promised for all those faithful to him. Though we must deal with all things and people of this world, let us not look to them for solutions. Rather, let God guide us and reveal what it is that we are to do to complete his work in the world. This is the only path to truth, peace, and happiness. “…Only in God will he (man) find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27)
“No one can be truly happy in this world unless they are at peace with God.” (St. John Bosco)
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