Our perceptions—much more than our circumstances—are the building blocks with which we construct our lives. No matter what the circumstances and stress, our view of life determines our level of joy and contentment.

“Find yourself” is common advice. But in the end, people who follow it find only ugliness, brokenness, and unhappiness. They pursue dreams, and find nightmares.

In my last blog, I shared six false expectations that can diminish our happiness. So what truths should raise our expectations of happiness? Here are seven worth focusing on.

Most people intuitively know that our expectations profoundly affect our life experiences. Yet even as believers, we simultaneously expect too much and too little. We need to discover what we should expect less of and what merits higher expectations.

The most liberating truth, the most happy-making reality, is that my redemption does not depend on me. It was accomplished by the God-Man Jesus. As Revelation 5 demonstrates, only Christ is worthy to accomplish redemption.

When God calls upon us to deny ourselves and follow Him, what appears to be our loss is in fact our gain. Should we want to gain our lives or lose our lives? Losing our lives in Christ is the means to the end of joyfully gaining them!

Though all of us, if asked, might say that we don’t have any more right to a perfect and pain-free life than the next person, in our own hearts and minds, we tend to believe that we do. So, when forced to suffer, even mature believers can feel driven to question God’s motives.

One of my great heroes is William Wilberforce. He is credited as the primary human agent to bring about the end of slavery in England. He wrote, “The gospel freely admitted makes a man happy. It gives him peace with God, and makes him happy in God.”

I’ve read books on happiness stressing that we must be happy right here and now, living in the moment, because this is our one and only chance. How sad! Thankfully, God says otherwise.