Don‘t put your happiness in temporary things…

   When I go to church, I always hope to be inspired, entertained, and enlightened. It doesn’t always happen that way, but a couple weekends ago it did.
  
   The speaker’s name was Nick. He’s from Australia, and has no arms or legs. Nick had an amazing sense of humor, and he made being happy seem effortless. The fact that he has no limbs barely seemed like an inconvenience to him. Though we all KNOW how inconvenient it would be! I think it had such an impact on me because I know so many people who are sad, angry, addicted, and emotionally unstable, yet they have arms and legs! People, we have arms and legs, what more could we want?

   Happiness. Nick had something to say about that as he walked back and forth, with no legs, on a table in front of the thousands of us. He said, “If you put your happiness in temporary things, your happiness will be temporary.”

   The only thing that isn’t temporary is God.

   Nick’s happiness comes from his relationship with God, not his circumstances. He admitted that he has asked God for arms and legs many times. He said that he has a pair of shoes, and long pants, in his closet for whenever God might decide to give him legs. He told us, “You can ask God for anything, but don‘t let your desires supersede your desire for God.” Nick desired God more than anything, and God renewed Nick’s mind, and changed him from being depressed, and at times suicidal, to being happy.

   The turning point, according to Nick, was John 9:1-3. It‘s about a man who was born blind. When asked why that had happened, Jesus had answered that it was “so the works of God should be revealed in him.” Nick said that God spoke to him through this scripture, and that it changed his life. Thousands of people have come to have a relationship with Jesus through Nick’s story.

   We all have a story. With every decision we make, our stories grow and change. I hope that I will never forget Nick, and that whenever I feel offended, hurt, or angry, that I will remember that I don’t have it so bad after all. I hope too, that I will purposely choose to make my story one that glorifies God; like Nick does.