Six days ago, Victoria Osteen made some probably unscripted comments in church. The video clip that is going viral is only 39 seconds long, yet, it has prompted world-wide vilification.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I am a public speaker (among my other talents) and I would hate to be judged on a 39 second audio clip. We have no context for this clip. We do not know what was said before, and we do not know what was said after. Yet many people have decided to take issue with her comment that ‘God wants us happy.’
Now, I am in the same boat as everyone who was not present at that meeting, and I only have the video/audio clip…. So, I am surmising here… However, what is she meant something like this:
The first statement that comes out of her mouth is ‘When we obey God….’ She then goes on to say that God wants us happy. She says other things concerning happiness, but I don’t want to quote the whole 39 seconds. I will say that I don’t believe that God particularly cares if I am happy or not. He does care if I am obedient. The Bible says that if I am ‘willing and obedient, I will eat the good of the land.’ Isaiah 1:19. Obedience is better than sacrifice, 1 Samuel 15:22. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21. If God and Jesus love me, and they manifest themselves to me, I guarantee I will be happy. Not just happy, but H.A.P.P.Y!!!!
So, what is this is what Victoria Osteen meant. What if she meant that if you are obedient, then you will eat the good of the land, that God and Jesus will love you, and you will have miracles happen in your life. It is not a hard jump to extrapolate that the beneficiary of such bounty would be happy. Because I know that obedience brings the blessings of God, I choose to be obedient. I know it makes Him happy, but it makes me happy. I avoid the consequences that come from disobedience. My parents taught me that there were consequences EVERY TIME I disobeyed them. I learned that lesson well. Consequences do not make me happy.
So in closing, let me clarify I do not agree with the statement that God wants me happy. God doesn’t care if I am happy. God cares if I am obedient. If I am obedient, I will be happy.
Until next time,
Dr. Polly
Well said!! Completely agree!!