Happy Influences

When a gardener plants seeds, she can’t control their germination and growth, but she can make a significant difference by controlling the factors that influence their development. Soil type, synthetic and natural fertilizers, the amount of sun, watering - both the amount of moisture and the rhythm of drying and wetting matters, all of these influence the way the plant grows. Gardeners also keep negative influences away from their plants, protecting them from cold temperatures, harmful chemicals, microbial and insect pests and anything else which may hinder development. I’ve heard some gardeners refer to thriving plants as being “happy.” My guess is that they mean they are responding well to the care and attention they receive.

In making an application to our own lives, we find one major difference. Carefully tended plants are under the care and control of the gardener. They can do nothing about the influences that promote the health or lead to their destruction. People, though, are much more responsible. True, we can’t control the family we were born into, the economic circumstances of early life, the abilities and disabilities encoded in our genes and so on, but we are responsible for the influences we choose to let into our lives.

The first couple of verses of Psalm 1indicate that happy people reject some influences and embrace others. There are three categories of negative influence happy people shun: taking advice from the ungodly, making friends with the unrighteous, and identifying with the cynics. Avoiding these influences may be a challenge, but for the most part it is possible. It may attract some short-term criticism, but it will contribute to your long-term happiness. Influences with do not take God into account, do not respect his standards, and live for the moment, absorbed with themselves, distrusting everyone and disbelieving anything that challenges them can only lead in one direction - hell on earth. And after that, just plain hell.

There is another influence mentioned, this one to be sought after. Happy people delight in God’s word so much that they think about it continually. This isn’t something they do out of obligation. Whenever their minds are free from the task at hand, they gravitate to some aspect of the word of God which intrigues, delights, and refreshes them. It’s one of those things that the more you do it, the happier you become and the happier you become, the more you enjoy doing it. It’s an upward spiral.

Allowing God to influence your life increases happiness for several reasons: It teaches you about His goodness, power and love for you among many other positive lessons. It points out where you’re going astray, your mistakes, your faults and your weaknesses. But it doesn’t just tell you where you’re wrong, it also tells you how to make the necessary corrections. It instructs you in a godly lifestyle which avoids so many of the things that cause grief. While it’s doing all these things, it keeps you from dwelling on the negative aspects of your circumstances which tend to make you feel miserable. (See 2 Timothy 3:16)

Ungodly, unrighteous and cynical influences are all around us and so pervasive that we hardly notice them.

  • The first thing to do is to learn to identify them. They come principally from the media and the people around us.
  • The second thing to do is to determine to reject the negative influences to reduce or eliminate their impact on us. This requires careful attention as we sift out those negative influences without isolating ourselves and alienating our friends.
  • The third thing to do is to dig into the Bible as the source of positive influences. This will take some discipline, especially at first, but the rewards are worth it.

    Happy people reject ungodly, unrighteous and cynical influences and embrace the positive influence of God’s word.

    Ron Hughes
    © September 2007

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