How to Find True Happiness

How often do you really take the time to enjoy the blessings in your life? It’s easy to focus on what we don’t have or compare our life to others. But if we’re not careful, we might miss out on what’s right in front of us!

In this episode, Yael Eckstein turns to the Bible to unpack the powerful message that God knows how unique we are, and because of this, He gives us exactly what we need in life. Your life might look different than someone else’s life, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less. If we trust that God always provides us with exactly what we need, we might just learn the Jewish understanding of true happiness—HaSameach b’chelko, “the one who is happy with his lot.

Noticing and enjoying the blessings we already have makes life that much sweeter—and happier. Listen now!

Episode Notes:

Today’s podcast focuses on the Bible verses found in Numbers 26:52-56, which begins with God’s command to take a census of the Israelites in preparation for them to enter the Holy Land:

The LORD said to Moses, “The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed. Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe. Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

Yael explains that we can learn a lot from the way that the Israelites received their portions in the Promised Land. God commanded Moses to distribute the land by “lot” or by a lottery. But how was it possible to make sure larger tribes had enough land and vice versa if it was done by a random lottery?

Well, as Moses drew the lots, miraculously, the results of the lottery perfectly matched the size and needs of each tribe. And it was done this way so that no one felt they were being more favored or less favored by God. By giving out the land by lots, Moses was able to avoid one tribe becoming jealous of another tribe’s allocation.

This powerful episode shows us that God determines everything in our lives—even the things that might seem random. When we look around at what some people have and what other people lack, we might think that some people are lucky while others aren’t. From the outside, it all seems random. But if we trust that God gives us exactly what we need, we can be content with what He has given us. It’s not about how much we have; rather, it’s about noticing our blessings and realizing God always provides for us. As Judaism ask, “Who is rich?” The answer comes, ““HaSameach b’chelko,” “He who is happy with his lot.”