Where does your happiness come from?

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/michigan-town-happiest-places-america/story?id=9865005

A friend sent me this link tonight.  We often have conversations about the social service system in this country.  The reason it is so broken, in Mrs. Roy's humble opinion, is because God never intended for government to take care of people.  That's the church's business - loving our neighbors - and when we do what God says, we are happy people.  That's how it works.

If you look at the organizations who were successful in helping people after Hurricane Katrina or after last month's earthquake in Haiti, you will see they are religious organizations that specialize in these type operations. Samaritan's Purse is a great example and one of my favorite organizations to help.  World Vision is another. 

My point is just this - God created us to work together and He gave us specific instructions in the Bible about how to care for each other.  If you study the Bible carefully, you will find that God did not intend to people to rely on government.  Initially, God ordained judges who led the people for short periods of time, generally when they were being attacked or bullied.  But the Israelites wanted a king because everyone else had a king so God finally gave them Saul and that was the beginning of the end for Israel.  Whenever God's people started relying on the earthly leaders (i.e. government) instead of God, it always led to major problems.  You would think we would have learned something from all that but apparently not. 


I believe in supporting organizations that I know work, like the ones mentioned here.  Also, my church is awesome in caring and sharing for its members and our neighbors and so I support my church.  And I believe in helping out one-on-one when I can.  I see stories in the local newspaper often about folks needing a helping hand because of circumstances beyond their control.  

You might want to check out http://www.modestneeds.org/ if you are interested in helping someone but don't know where to start.  These folks let you pick who you want to help and you can designate that 100% of your donation go to the person instead of administrative costs.  I like that.  It makes me happy.