Monday, June 18, 2012

A Meaningless Life?

I can't help but look around in these few moments in life. I look around and there are busy people moving so quickly and fast. The world is spinning, the universe is expanding, the galaxies are twisting and light is traveling. Everything is moving and in motion. There is no stopping it and there is no slowing it down. What is happening is happening now... not later... not sooner... not then... BUT now! We are restrained by this ticking clock and we are contained in moment by moment life sequences. We all have a beginning... a birth... and we all have an end... death, but what is found in between is life or is it?

Is what we perceive now to be what really is or is what we see now only a mirage of what is to come? Is this reality or only a sense of reality? Have we not yet been awaken to true reality where we experience life with new senses that we have no idea exist? Is this moment life or is it only a glimpse at what life really is? I have no answer to these questions, but I ask them not to find an answer, but to challenge thought and to awaken ideas of what eternity may be like.

Eternity sounds like freedom from time... Freedom from the chains that locks me into a system of birth and death. Eternity is incomprehensible for me, because all I know falls under the ticking of the clock. What will life be like when there is no clock ticking? When there is no age, but simply existence under no restraint. My mind is left to ponder these ideas, but not to go mad over them. I actually find deep rest and security in this idea of God being incomprehensible and of eternity being timeless. I rest in the arms of the very creator who defined every law of motion and existence. It is intimidating, but who is better to trust then HIM!

I don't have answers to any deep theological question or answers to any philosophical inquiry, but I do have the truth. It does not matter about right or wrong, because in the end when we are in eternity we will laugh at our distraught efforts to solve the world. We will laugh at our arguments about existence and creation and life after death. I have a feeling that I am going to look back on my life now in eternity and just laugh at how I thought I knew and how I thought I understood. I love how the writer of Ecclesiastes talks about life... "meaningless." It is almost depressing, but yet refresshing because it is true. In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon talks about how there is time for everything and how God has set "eternity in the human heart yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes)." So what happens when there is no longer a time for everything? What happens when eternity sets in? What happens in the end? I don't know, but I am refreshed to know that God does and I serve Him. My master knows all!

I have been awakened to eternity only, because God has placed it in my heart not so that I can understand it, but so I will trust Him with it. It is God's gift! In Ecclesiastes, Solomon pretty much says he does not know! He proclaims that he has no answers. Now this is the wisest man in the Bible and he has come to the conclusion that he does not understand. BUT Solomon does make an interesting observation about time. He says to enjoy it and to enjoy your work and to enjoy your life.

"Go eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this MEANINGLESS life that God has given you under the sun - all your MEANINGLESS days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10)."

At first when I read this I was very confused. I was upset a little, beacause all my life I have been told, "you can do it... you can change the world... you can make a difference...", but can I? Can I really change the world. I have come to find that I can not, but I have found Christ who can. He is moving and He is changing me and the world around me. He is putting into place all of the pieces to bring God Glory one moment at a time. I am along for the ride. I have been handed life and I don't know when it is going to end, but I am sure that it will one day, but instead of making sure that every moment counts I am going to make sure I enjoy it. I am going to soak up what God has given me and I am going to sink my heart deep into the truth of eternity. I will enjoy my days here and I will enjoy what I do. I will enjoy my friends and family who I am priveleged to be on this journey with. Instead of being worried about the end I am going to fear God more than I fear death. "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-13)."

why worry about what is happening now and why be so caught up in this concept of time and how it is limited, but become lost in God! He is the Creator and the Almighty! He is the great judge! He is all of everything and so much more. God is incomprehensible and unkown to me, but I much rather be on His side than on anyone elses even if Calvin says this or that (haha). I choose to be on God's side not my side. I choose to rest in the Almighty and rest in the unknown. I choose to enjoy my life and to enjoy what I have been given. I will work with all my might and follow with all my heart, but only because of what Christ did. If it were not for His action I would be incapable and comoletely hopeless, but since my savior died and my savior rose I can live! I can have eternity! I may never be able to understand, but I am okay with that, because I know the truth. My God knows me better than I know myself and He will take care of me not for just this moment, but for eternity.

Do not get caught up in the rush and caught up in the day to day routine, but break free into the unknown and rest in the incomprehensible God who knows all. It is true that He is King not only over time, but over all ETERNITY. Do not lose sight of the destination and do not lose your mind over the uknown, but be broken and humbled to be loved by a Sovereign Lord that will reign forever and ever. It is in this truth that I rest and it is in this truth that I live. Life is meaningless, all that has ever mattered and ever will is God. Plain and simple, God is the way, the truth and the life. There is no other way to live. So be free in eternity! Yes, it is incomprehensible, but be free in not knowing, but in trusting! Oh and don't forget to enjoy the ride!

2 comments:

  1. Great post son! One of my favorites of yours for sure! Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts and the Words of Scripture. I needed to hear this today. I love you and am praying for you. I'm also very proud of you!
    Dad

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