Finland the Happiest Country?

Are you a Christian? Do you believe what Scripture says when it says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Or what about Paul’s equally-important succinct command, “Rejoice in the Lord” (Philippians 3:1). We may think of a nation that has the highest wealth, or the country that has participated in fewer wars, or the one who has solved the greatest number of diseases.

We don’t know if this is true or not, but there is now a report that says that Finland has been named (the forth in a row) as the “happiest country in the world.” For those who don’t know, this is a country to the east of Norway and Sweden and west of Russia. This is the report that we’ve read:

For four consecutive years, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which publishes an annual report evaluating the happiness of people around the world.

We know that this report could be prejudiced in some way, but it does appear to be authentic. The report doesn’t say just why this little-known nation would be happy but we read the following:

Finland has long been praised by a multitude of international bodies for its extensive welfare benefits, low levels of corruption, well-functioning democracy, and its instilled sense of freedom and autonomy. Its progressive taxation and wealth distribution has allowed for a flourishing universal. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/heikkivaananen/2020/05/26/what-makes-finland-the-happiest-country-in-the-world/?sh=18a39aa275cc)

We can see that such elements as these would be praised by people, whether Finnish, or others. This is another report:

Finland has been named the happiest place in the world for a fourth year running, in an annual UN-sponsored report.

 

The World Happiness Report saw Denmark in second place, then Switzerland, Iceland and the Netherlands.

New Zealand was again the only non-European nation in the top 10. The UK fell from 13th to 17th place.

Data from analytics researcher Gallup asked people in 149 countries to rate their own happiness.

Measures including social support, personal freedom, gross domestic product (GDP) and levels of corruption were also factored in.

The country deemed the most unhappy in the world was Afghanistan, followed by Lesotho, Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

Here is another report, showing that  most of the positive responses are found in Europe:

    1. Finland
    2. Denmark
    3. Switzerland
    4. Iceland
    5. Netherlands
    6. Norway
    7. Sweden
    8. Luxembourg
    9. New Zealand
    10. Austria

These ten countries were deemed the happiest ones in the world. Interestingly, they are among the most atheistic ones too, which shows that simply believing in God (with the mind) does not result in true happiness. Especially telling is that most of these people must assume that in a few years they will be in eternal agony in hades (although we must admit that probably many of these really don’t believe in hades or hell).

Finland has been named the happiest place in the world for a fourth year running, in an annual UN-sponsored report.

The World Happiness Report saw Denmark in second place, then Switzerland, Iceland and the Netherlands.

New Zealand was again the only non-European nation in the top 10. The UK fell from 13th to 17th place.

Data from analytics researcher Gallup asked people in 149 countries to rate their own happiness.

Measures including social support, personal freedom, gross domestic product (GDP) and levels of corruption were also factored in.

The country deemed the most unhappy in the world was Afghanistan, followed by Lesotho, Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.. . . .

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has managed far better than the majority of Europe during the pandemic, with just over 70,000 cases and 805 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Prime Minister of Finland

We urge you who are reading this report as well as people from Finland and all of Europe to turn to God now. Yes, it is good to feel good, but just feeling well will not turn one to God and to His way of salvation!