Happiness is a Byproduct of Obedience

Well, I have a little time on my hands... Juliet is napping and so is Mike. Anyway, one of the things that I have been thinking about is something I heard about a half a year ago. It came from a lecture from Pastor Beeke and I think the topic was on knowing what God's will was for your life. He was addressing teenagers in particular and was basically answering questions that many teenagers face: who is the right man/woman for me? what career should I be pursuing? How can I be happy? One of the statements that jumped out at me was when he said: "Happiness is a byproduct of obedience." In this world where pretty much everyone's goal is to be happy, this really isn't a popular concept. I wrote the statement down and put it on the little cork bulletin board in my kitchen. This statement was perfectly illustrated in my life not too long ago when I was mad at Mike (I really have to start coming up with different examples or else everyone that knows me will start slipping me marriage self-help books on the sly and quite frankly, I'm marriage-booked out right now). I knew the right thing to do was to forgive and talk it all out, but I wanted to hold onto my anger and my pride. So, a miserable five hours or however long it took ensued before I magnanimously accepted a humble apology. The point being, if I had simply obeyed God's word in the first place (namely to forgive) I would have been a lot happier! It amazes me how everyday I really have to read that little statement over again because this foolish heart forgets so quickly!!! (I'm not saying that the reason why you should obey God's commands is so that you can be happy. Like the statement says, though, it is a BYPRODUCT of obedience, not the end goal).