How To Be Miseralble

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:10


I realize most of us don’t need any help or instruction on how to be miserable and trust me thats not my goal. I am hoping the title alone perked your interest and by the time you are done reading this devotional you will determine to do everything in your power to keep from being miserable. The good news is you can!

The thought came to me as I was listening to one of our pastors teach at our early morning Wednesday bible study on the book of Revelation. He was teaching on the church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3. In it Jesus is speaking to a miserable church, specifically, a lukewarm church that was content and lacking any spiritual fervency. Jesus used an analogy that John’s listeners would have easily understood as the city of Laodicea had two aqueducts that brought water, cold water from the mountains of Colosse, and hot water from Hierapolis a city located in a dessert region. The only problem was by the time the water reached the city from either direction it was lukewarm, no good for bathing and lousy for quenching thirst.

Jesus condemns lukewarmness in a believers life the same way my grandkids do a lukewarm bath. James, the half brother of Jesus reminds us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Being indecisive is a sure way to end up miserable. The church at Laodicea had become apathetic in their love for Jesus, waffling back and forth between serving the Lord and wanting to pursue wealth and earthly pleasures.

Pastor Mike Cosper summed up the problem and the solution well in his study when he said, “Too much of the world to be happy in Jesus or too happy in Jesus to be happy in the world.” Profound and so simple. The church in Laodicea unfortunately were seeking happiness in the world committing their lives to the pursuit of money and pleasure. They were you could say, attempting to have one foot in the world and one foot in Jesus, and as Jesus pointed out thats a miserable place to be and it can’t be done. I like how evangelist D.L. Moody explained it too when he said, “Our old and new nature is like two dogs. You only have enough food to feed one. If you try to feed them both, each will die from starvation so you must decide, you can feed one or the other but you can’t feed them both.” Are you feeling miserable today in your own life trying to do both?

The way we avoid misery in this life is by deciding to starve the old dog, our old nature and instead, feed the one, feed our new nature by going all in with Jesus. The world tells us, “one in the hand is worth two in the bush” but the bible teaches us the very opposite, to walk by faith and not by sight. The book of Hebrews tells us God rewards those who diligently seek Him. I get it. Everyone wants to be satisfied and Jesus offers us satisfaction as we learn to be satisfied in Him. Think about this, if the God of heaven can’t satisfy the longing of our hearts today what makes us think anything this world has to offer can. It can’t so don’t fall for it, don’t waste your time looking for satisfaction in money or possessions. Find your happiness, your contentment  and joy in Jesus today remembering the words of the prophet Jeremiah,


“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8


I LOVE YOU!