Hannah Whitall Smith
1832-1911

      Hannah Whitall Smith was a Quaker born in Philadelphia in 1832. Her book 'The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life' has become a classic. Published in 1870, it was a beacon of encouragement in the age in which it was written, and continues to inspire men and women to a more joyful life with Christ. It has sold nearly 2 million copies.

      Smith was by no means a dour servant of Christ but rather, her life expressed the joy found in complete surrender. The 'secret' to a happy life, is to trust implicitly in the promises of the Bible. Her goal was not to impress the scholar but to elevate the simple man or woman who longed for a more consecrated way of living.

      On a theological level, the sad climax of Hannah's life and ministry was similar to that of her husband. She was raised in the Society of Friends (Quakerism), and for some time was associated with the Plymouth Brethren. She was probably saved under their influence, and thus came to know something of the growth truths.

      US evangelist, reformer, suffragist, author. She championed feminist causes and the right of young women to attend college; co-founded Women's Christian Temperance Union. Deeply practical, her writings deal directly with the day to day struggles of ordinary people. She weaves her scriptural theology in and out of the stories of people's lives.
      

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1.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 1 - Is it Scriptural?
      The potential for a happy abundant Christian life is available to all who would make Jesus the Lord of their lives, yet there are many Christians whose lives lack the joy and fullness of a truly happy life. A keen observer once said to me, "You Christians seem to have a religion that makes you miserable. You are like a man with a headache. He does ...read more

2.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 2 - God's side and man's side.
      There is much misunderstanding about the subject of the life and walk of faith because its two sides are not seen clearly. People are apt to think that there is only one side to it. They dwell exclusively upon the one they happen to see more clearly, without even thinking of any other. It is no wonder then, that there are distorted views of the who ...read more

3.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 3 - The Life Defined
      In the first chapter I have tried to settle the question regarding the scriptural basis of the experience sometimes called the higher Christian life. It is the only true Christian life which is best described in the words, the "life hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). In the second chapter I have sought to bring the two distinct sides of this ...read more

4.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 4 - How to enter in.
      Having sought to settle the question regarding the scriptural basis of actually living a life hid with Christ in God, and having also shown a little of what it is, the next point concerns how it is to be reached and realized. First of all, I would say that this blessed life must not in any way be looked upon as an attainment, but as an obtainme ...read more

5.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 5 - Difficulties concerning consecration.
      It is very important that Christians not be ignorant of the temptations that seem to stand ready to oppose every step of their progress. These temptations are especially active when the soul hungers and thirsts after righteousness and begins to reach out after the fullness of life in Christ. One of the greatest of these temptations concerns con ...read more

6.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 6 - Difficulties concerning faith.
      After consecration, the next step in the soul's progress out of the wilderness of a failing Christian experience into the land that flows with milk and honey, is that of faith. And here, as in the first step, the soul encounters certain kinds of difficulty and hindrance at once. The child of God who understands the fullness of life available to ...read more

7.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 7 - Difficulties concerning the will.
      When the child of God completely trusts the Lord for all areas of his life, and begins to know something of the blessedness of the life hid with Christ in God he may face a difficulty. If his experiences of peace and rest have somewhat subsided, or if he has never experienced them, he begins to feel that his situation is unreal. He begins to feel l ...read more

8.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 8 - Difficulties concerning guidance.
      Now you have begun the life of faith. You have given yourself to the Lord to be completely His. You are now entirely in His hands to be moulded according to His own divine purpose, into a vessel unto His honor. Your most earnest desire is to follow Him wherever He may lead you. You want to be pliable in His hands. You are trusting Him to "work in y ...read more

9.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 9 - Difficulties concerning doubts.
      Many Christians are slaves to the persistent habit of doubting. I do not mean doubts about the existence of God or the truths of the Bible. Rather, they doubt the forgiveness of their sins, their hopes of heaven, and their own inward experience. They are in bondage to their habit of doubting as an alcoholic is in bondage to his habit of drinking. E ...read more

10.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 10 - Difficulties concerning temptations.
      In the life of faith, some very great mistakes are made concerning the matter of temptation. First of all, people seem to think that temptations will cease after one is saved. They think that they will be delivered from yielding to temptation and from being tempted. When temptations come they are completely discouraged. They think they must hav ...read more

11.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 11 - Difficulties concerning failures.
      The title of this chapter may startle some readers. "Failures," they will say. "We thought there were no failures in this life of faith!" I would answer that there should not be failures and need not be failures, but there sometimes are failures, and we must deal with facts and not with theories. Teachers of this interior life do not say that i ...read more

12.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 12 - Is God everything?
      One of the greatest obstacles to an unwavering experience in the interior life is the difficulty of seeing God in everything. People say, "I can easily submit to things that come from God. But I cannot submit to man which is the source of most of my trials." Or they say, "It is all well enough to talk of trusting. But when I commit a matter to God, ...read more

13.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 13 - Bondage or freedom.
      There are two kinds of Christian experience, one of which is an experience of bondage, and the other an experience of freedom. In bondage the soul is controlled by a stern sense of duty and obeys the law of God either from fear of punishment or from expectation of wages. In the experience of freedom, the controlling power is an inward lifeprinciple ...read more

14.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 14 - Growth.
      A great objection made against those who promote this life of faith is that they do not teach growing in grace. According to them, the soul arrives in one moment at a state of perfection which cannot advance. All the scriptures that point toward growth and development are ignored by this teaching. I want to present what Scripture says about growth. ...read more

15.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 15 - Service.
      Upon entering this life hid with Christ in God, there is, perhaps, no part of Christian experience where a greater change is known than in the matter of service. In all the ordinary forms of Christian life, service is more or less a type of bondage in that it is done purely as a matter of duty and often as a trial and a cross. Certain things, which ...read more

16.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 16 - Practical results in the daily walk.
      If all that has been written in the preceding chapters on the life hid with Christ is true, its results ought to be very noticeable in our daily walk as Christians. The people who have entered into the enjoyment of it ought to be "peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). My son once wrote to a friend saying something to this effect: th ...read more

17.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 17 - The joy of obedience.
      Having spoken of some of the difficulties in this life of faith, let me now speak of some of its joys. The joy of obedience is foremost. Long ago I came across this sentence: "Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness, if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying." I remember being struck with the saying as the means of a p ...read more

18.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 18 - Divine Union.
      All the dealings God has with the soul of the believer are to bring it into oneness with Himself, that the prayer of our Lord may be fulfilled: "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us....I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Tho ...read more

19.) The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life 19 - The chariots of God.
      It has been well said that "earthly cares are a heavenly discipline." However, they are even something better than discipline they are God's chariots, sent to take the soul to its high places of triumph. They do not look like chariots. Instead, they look like enemies, sufferings, trials, defeats, misunderstandings, disappointments, unkindnesses ...read more