There is a certain kind of unhappiness that words struggle to capture. Not the everyday kind, not the stress of a long day, or the momentary sadness that lifts after a good night’s sleep. I mean the deep seated unhappiness that lingers in your chest like a shadow. The type of pain you cannot quite explain, yet it consumes you so completely that life feels drained of color.
If you have ever been in that place, you know what I mean. You might not have had happiness at that moment, but you knew something was missing. You knew that your heart and mind were not at peace. And when you are living in that state, all you crave is freedom from the cloud pressing down on you.
It is in those moments that the wisdom of Scripture comes alive. “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The word guard takes on a whole new meaning. It is not casual. It is not passive. Guarding your heart is like putting up fences around your very life. Because truly, your life depends on it.
When your heart is overwhelmed with unhappiness, it is nearly impossible to be productive in any other area. The sadness spills into your work, your relationships, your outlook on life. The world itself starts to look gloomy. Nothing else seems to matter until you somehow climb out of that dark place. But when you finally do, when you rediscover joy, you value it in a way you never did before.
You begin to recognize the signs of anything that might threaten your peace. You run from it, not because someone warned you, but because your soul knows better. You have lived without joy, and you are not eager to return.
The Value of Lack
Life has a way of teaching us the worth of things by letting us taste their absence.
A man who has known poverty values wealth differently. But poverty is not always financial. There is poverty of friendship, poverty of knowledge, poverty of opportunity, poverty of love. Lack comes in many forms. And when you have experienced it, when you have longed for something that seemed out of reach, its value becomes etched in your heart once you finally receive it.
That is why those who have known lack are never in the same league as those who have always had plenty. Their appreciation runs deeper. Their sense of stewardship is stronger. They guard what they have received because they know what it costs to live without it.
The Rhythm of Life
But here is something else I have learned: life does not hand us joy or sorrow as permanent states. Seasons change. I like to think of it as a wave, rising and falling, a rhythm. There are highs and there are lows.
When you are in a season of joy, do not take it for granted. Savor it. Breathe it in. Celebrate it fully. When you are in a season of struggle, do not despair. Learn from it. Hold on to hope, because the wave will rise again.
The mistake many of us make is assuming that joy means God is near and sorrow means He has abandoned us. That is not true. Both seasons are part of the story He is writing with our lives. There is no permanent season. Life is the sum of all its parts: the jubilation and the grief, the waiting and the fulfillment, the scarcity and the abundance.
The Lesson
So what is the lesson in all of this?
I believe it is this: never lose awareness of what truly matters. Guard your heart. Guard your joy. Guard the blessings you once longed for. But do not let them rule over you. Because life is not just about gaining or losing, it is about living fully, faithfully, and hopefully in every season.
Happiness, peace, joy, these are not trivial things. They are lifelines. And when you have known what it means to live without them, you will guard them as if your life depends on it. Because in many ways, it does.
