Does Satan Want Us to be Miserable?

In my last post, I asked whether God wants us to be happy, and argued that God has far more important desires for us than happiness. As a follow-up, I would like to consider what is perhaps the opposite question: does Satan want us to be miserable?

I believe it is often assumed that He does. Whenever something goes wrong in our lives, it is tempting to attribute it to the work of Satan. If we lose a job, become ill, have a bad day, or encounter other difficulty, we often say that we’re “under attack”, attributing it to Satan (whether consciously or subconsciously). We assume that if God’s ultimate goal is the best for us, Satan’s ultimate goal must be the opposite of this, which would mean he wants nothing more than for us to be miserable and unhappy, afflicted with as many trials as possible. But I would like to argue that in an overall sense, Satan’s goal is not for us to be miserable, and in fact, often I believe he wants us to be happy!

C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters, portrayed the fictional correspondence between Screwtape, a senior demon, and his nephew Wormwood. In each letter Screwtape offered Wormwood advice on how to achieve his ultimate objective, which was to prevent the man to whom he had been assigned from becoming a committed follower of God. Screwtape frequently warned against causing too much difficulty in the man’s life, since this had a high probability of driving him closer to God, not further away. Instead, he advised that Wormwood ought to do his best to ensure the man had a comfortable, carefree life, the kind that would make it easier to push God to the back of his mind.

I believe this is an insightful glimpse into Satan’s desire for us. Often, it is when we are most miserable and struggling that we become closest to God. Satan cares less about temporary difficulties than about eternally preventing as many as possible from joining God in Heaven, and this end often is accomplished best if we are happy, in good health, needing nothing, and fully satisfied.

Does this mean that we should be suspicious of and reject good things in our lives as possibly being sent by Satan or playing into his hands? Certainly not. I’m also not suggesting that Satan never is behind certain trials and difficulties we may encounter. But we need to keep in mind that suffering often is highly beneficial to us, providing an opportunity to draw closer to God and grow in maturity and character. Also, we should always be on our guard during the easier times in our lives, knowing that at these times we are most vulnerable to complacency. We must avoid becoming too relaxed and forgetting about our ongoing dependence on God, as well as the fact that life is not about enjoying ourselves, but about offering our lives in service to God.

So does Satan want us to be miserable? Most of the time, probably not. Like happiness, sadness and misery are nothing more than temporary feelings, and have little importance from an eternal perspective. Satan’s goal is to make us ineffective, not unhappy. To steal our eternal joy and fulfillment, not our temporary happiness during this life. To guard against this, we would do well to avoid placing too high an importance on our own happiness in the first place.

Does God Want Us to be Happy?

 If there were no God, it would follow that our lives would have no purpose other than to maximize our happiness as much and for as long as possible. On the other hand, one of the most fundamental principles of Christianity is that there is far more to life than obtaining happiness. Though surrounded by the mindset that happiness is the ultimate good for which we can strive, we nevertheless turn our attention toward higher and greater ideals.

I’m sure most, if not all Christians, would agree that happiness should not be our most important goal or the measure by which we determine the quality of our lives. Nevertheless, we still may make certain assumptions about happiness that could be false and even harmful. We can agree that our own primary concern and desire should not be our own happiness. But does God Himself want us to be happy?

It may seem odd even to consider such a question. After all, if God is pure goodness, and loves us perfectly, it would seem that this love leads Him to want only the best for us. Surely “the best for us” would include happiness, if not as an ultimate goal, perhaps at last as a result?

I think it’s important to begin by making clear what I mean when I use the word “happiness.” I think of it is a temporary feeling that is caused by something good that happens to us. It is not good in and of itself, but is simply an emotional reaction to something that is good. In that sense it has no inherent value, and indeed, this will be evident as we reflect on our lives and realize that most of the time we have been more satisfied when we have accomplished something that mattered rather than simply being happy. Of course, it could be argued that this feeling of satisfaction is itself happiness, but I would call it something deeper than that. Happiness is what we feel when we are enjoying ourselves with friends, or eating cake, or listening to music we enjoy. These are good feelings, but they don’t compare to, for example, the feeling produced by saving someone’s life or devoting our time to working hard for a good cause. If happiness is the word we would use to describe our feeling in the former examples, it would be difficult to justify its use in the latter examples.

Additionally, to want someone to be happy technically is not a desire for happiness itself, but for the person to have whatever it is that would make them happy. If I want my wife to be happy, likely what I have in mind for her is not happiness itself, but coffee and dark chocolate. Therefore, when we consider whether God wants us happy, in a way we are asking whether God wants us to have things that would make us happy.

If we feel that God wants us to be happy, likely we have gotten this idea by imagining ourselves in God’s position and concluded what we ourselves would do and want if we were Him. When we ourselves love someone, we might imagine that, given the power, we would do everything we could to make them as happy as possible. But we must avoid the mistake of imagining that our own love can be used as a model for understanding God’s love, and that therefore, whatever we would do out of love would be what God will do. Needless to say, our love lesser than God’s and would lead us to do many things that, while seeming to be best for someone, in fact would not be.

Parents certainly understand this. Their ultimate goal is not their kids’ happiness, but that they become good people, behave ethically, become productive citizens, and love and serve God. To make kids happiest often would mean to give them whatever they want whenever they want it. They probably are happier if they have cake for dinner, and less happy if they have vegetables. They probably are more happy staying at home playing video games than if they go to school.

Certainly it could be pointed out that, in the long term, they will be happier if they are healthier and educated, but this will not always be the case. And even if so, the happiness is incidental. It was never the original goal. This point is extremely important to understand, because very often whatever is best for us will not make us happier. In the pursuit of greater maturity and character development, happiness is not worth much. Hard work, struggle, and even suffering are far more beneficial toward these ends. I enjoy playing chess, and as exciting it is to win, I’ve come to realize that it is primarily the games I lose that help me become a better player. There are far more lessons to be learned when I lose. It is the same with life in general.

So does God want us to be happy? Not necessarily. I believe God wants us to be holy, to become more and more the people He made us to be, and to fulfill the purpose He has for our lives. Whether this results in happiness is of secondary importance.

Furthermore, I believe it is imperative to understand this, because if we don’t, the assumption that our happiness can be used as an indicator of what God wants for us may lead to false expectations. If I’m praying for the ideal house, or the perfect job, or to be married, or any number of other things, I may conclude that these things must be God’s will for me because I wouldn’t be happy without them. In extreme cases, we even may justify sinful desires or actions based on this idea. For example, a married man or woman may be unhappy in their marriage but very happy at the thought of being with someone else. It’s not hard to imagine that some people have justified adultery or divorce in such cases, because they assumed God would “understand” and wants above all else for them to be happy.

Another reason it’s so important to recognize that our happiness is not God’s highest priority is that this mindset causes us to focus mainly on ourselves and what we want. We even may imagine that, in a way, God owes it to us to make us happy because of His promised love for us. This can warp the way we view God, imagining Him as more of a servant to us than we are to Him. It may also cause us to pray in selfish ways, assuring ourselves that our requests are in accordance with His will because they would “create an opportunity for Him to bless us”, which we have convinced ourselves He always wants to do. We must never lose sight of the fact that we exist primarily to bring God glory and serve Him.

So does God want us to be happy? No, I believe God wants much more important things for us than happiness. And we would all do well to think less about our own happiness and more about how we can fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

In my next post, I’ll consider a related question: does Satan want us to be miserable?