God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
Thus declared C. S. Lewis, the great voice of faith and reason, who had walked the long road from doubt to belief. His words resound not as mere doctrine, but as revelation — the cry of a man who searched the whole earth for meaning, only to find that joy and peace are not treasures hidden in the world, but behind it, in the presence of God Himself. In this utterance, Lewis reveals an eternal truth known by prophets and mystics alike: that happiness and peace cannot be separated from their divine source. They are not prizes that God hands out; they are the very light that shines only when the soul turns toward Him.

In the ancient manner of wisdom, let us unfold this saying. The happiness that men chase — through wealth, fame, power, or pleasure — is like mist before the sun. It vanishes as soon as it is grasped. The heart longs not for gold or glory, but for communion — a union with the eternal good from which it was born. Lewis, who had tasted both worldly ambition and deep spiritual hunger, knew that joy apart from God is a shadow, a fleeting echo. To seek peace without the divine is like trying to find warmth in a painted flame. For peace, in its true form, is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of the Divine within the soul.

Think of the tale of St. Augustine, who, like Lewis, spent years wandering in the wilderness of desire and philosophy. He sought happiness in intellect, in lust, in status — and each time, the joy dissolved like dust between his fingers. But when at last he surrendered, he cried out to heaven: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord.” This is the living echo of Lewis’s wisdom. Both men, separated by centuries, discovered the same secret: that God does not withhold happiness — we lose it when we stray from Him. The fountain of peace has never run dry; it is we who wander into the desert.

The world teaches that peace can be purchased — through comfort, through distraction, through control. Yet look upon the great empires of history, the mighty kings and conquerors who possessed everything and died in misery. Alexander the Great, after subduing nations, wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. His heart, though surrounded by riches, was empty. He had mastered men but not himself. He had grasped kingdoms but lost communion with the divine. True happiness eluded him because it does not dwell in conquest — it dwells in connection.

Lewis speaks to every generation when he reminds us that there is no such thing as peace apart from God. When men try to create joy by their own hands — when they build their towers of ambition, their empires of pleasure, their idols of self — they end only in exhaustion. For the human soul was made in the image of the eternal, and therefore can only be satisfied by the eternal. The bird is not at peace on the ground, nor the fish upon the sand. Each is restless until it returns to its element. So too is the soul restless until it dwells again in its Maker.

To live by this truth is not to flee the world, but to see it rightly — as a reflection of divine love. Every sunrise, every act of kindness, every melody of laughter is but a whisper from the Creator, calling the heart home. To find happiness, do not chase it; turn toward the source. Pray not merely for blessings, but for presence. Seek not fleeting comfort, but abiding communion. For where God is, peace is born — and where He is absent, no power or pleasure can replace Him.

The lesson, beloved seeker, is this: Stop searching for joy as though it were a jewel buried in the earth. Lift your eyes, and seek the One from whom all light flows. Begin each morning with remembrance; end each night with gratitude. Let your actions be offerings, your words be songs of reverence. Do not ask for happiness apart from God — for there is no such thing. Instead, ask to know Him more deeply, and happiness will follow like a river flowing from its spring.

And so, pass this wisdom to your children, and to your children’s children: that true peace cannot be found in the world’s applause, nor in the silent hoarding of pleasures, but only in the presence of God, the eternal hearth of the human heart. When you dwell there, the storms of life cannot shake you, and the night itself shall glow with holy light.