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by Stephanie Henriquez

I wish there were a way to make someone feel what I feel… like if there were a sticker on this page that said, “scratch here to feel happy”. Many think that true happiness can not be reached. Well, let me tell you how out-of-this-world happy God has made me.

I used to think I was the kind of person who looked at life ‘realistically’. I grew up being taught that life was a struggle, that things and people would always fail you. That, yes, there were happy moments but they were always followed by hurts, letdowns, and disappointments. Being taught and shown this as a little girl, I grew up thinking it was true.

It’s funny how God completely changes your way of thinking. I started going to Voice of Pentecost Church and little by little, God started changing the way I looked at life. I would see so many people going through really hard trials and would think, “Man! How can they be happy, dancing, and praising God, knowing that they just lost their house, their car, or their job, claiming that God had a greater blessing in store…if they just obey Him?” Immediately, my ‘realistic’ way of thinking would kick in; why didn’t they just work harder to get things for themselves instead of waiting on God to do it for them? I even became angry with my friends for thinking the way they did. I felt like they were living in a fantasy land where everything was ‘peachy-keen’ and nothing ever went wrong.

Then one day, I had a very loooong conversation with one of them and I began to tell him how unrealistic he was being. Life wasn’t all about being happy. I told him that he had to work harder to gain everything he wanted in life; that nothing is just given to him by praying and waiting on the Lord! Life is full of disappointments and you can never be truly happy! He sat there listening then said, “Stephanie, that’s not how our God is.” I suddenly realized he was right.

From that moment, my life changed… God started working within me and I found truth despite all the lies the devil had tried to use to blind me.

I realized that, yes, there are trials and tribulations but they are not there to make you miserable or unhappy. They’re there to make you stronger, to lift you up. I realized that in praising Him with all that was in me, just as I had seen others do, I would find happiness! All of the devil’s lies had made me into this cynical person who looked at life with bitterness and anger, never expecting anything good or anything to make me happy. I now realize that with my Lord, I am capable of anything and everything He has called me to do, no matter how big, small, or crazy. No matter how hard or testing my trial may be, I find true happiness in forgetting the world and just falling in love with my Jesus!

Stephanie Henriquez is a volunteer at Christian WYSIWYG Filmworks.