“‘Everything is meaningless. What does man gain by all the work
at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”
Just what are you doing with your life?
It’s a hard question to answer, you know?
You’ve asked this question before. And you don’t want to answer it because you know the answer is only…
…disappointing.
Sometimes it just seems like life hasn’t handed you much opportunity. You look at your situation and think to yourself, “What can I really do here? What ground is there to be gained?” This sensation is only accentuated when you live in a small community in the middle of nowhere special.
Let the existential crises ensue, as they usually do when you consider this.
If somehow you manage to get past considering how meaningless life is in this massive, unforgiving universe, you begin to see the pastures immediately around you. The envy for what others have is a real, genuine thing. They’re going places and they’re leaving real, impactful marks on the world. The things that they achieve will not be readily forgotten.
But what have you done?
You’re stuck where you’re at, and your reach is limited. Every day is filled with the same old surroundings, people, and problems that have pervaded it for years on end.
What’s that now? You begin to lack any inclination to do anything? Yes, apathy, and a total lack of empathy; the seeming last “nails in the coffin”, start to be driven in.
What is life?
You ponder the idea and all of its avenues, and before you have even reached 25 years of age the bitter feeling begins to firmly anchor itself on your heart: you missed your boat, and life and its opportunities have already passed you by. You don’t have anything to offer.
Your life was at an end when it began.
* * *
I write this from experience. I haven’t had all these feelings personally or too often, but I’ve certainly struggled with apathy and existential crises as well as a spirit of comparison. And what I haven’t experienced I have learned of from watching and listening to others who have keenly felt the sting of these seeming realities.
I know how life just sucks.
I know how easy it is to become overwhelmed looking up to the stars and suddenly realizing just how infinitesimal you are compared to the canvas of the cosmos and realizing you just don’t matter to it. What’s worse, in this universe where, so far as we know to date, we are the only ones, those of your own race can be cruel and unforgiving. Wars, lies, manipulation, politics, “fake”ness, religion. Everyone is at everyone’s throats, it seems. There are days where you feel you are wanted by few.
Maybe… you don’t feel wanted by any.
And maybe… maybe… you being to truly ask yourself that question at the butt end of so many idle conversations or passing “jokes”: What is life worth living?
I know facing this question is a reality for many, especially where I come from. I know the statistics, that suicide rates continue to climb, that as soon as you step outside of any given major city in America that suicide rates immediately double, that the mad clamour for drugs to ease the pain of life (both illegal and prescribed) only continues to grow. I have spent the last several years watching the number of opioid-related deaths per year in my state increase to as many as 10 times or more per annum than it used to be.
I know it all… I know it all too well. If I haven’t personally walked all that I just shared with you then I know someone else who did, or have pieced each stone that was missing along that path together for myself to see. And I know where it all leads: The End. And not with any “happily ever after” prefacing that statement. Just…
..The end.
I mean, how could you look at the big picture and NOT see that? I have.
It ends just as meaninglessly as it began…
…
..
.
but…
…what if I told you there was more?
Walk with me just a little bit further here.
Yes, I know that your “church alert” alarm just went off, but if I’m wrong and life truly is meaningless then in reality you lose nothing by bearing with me a few more paragraphs.
…What if I told you you weren’t a mistake or random happenstance of the chaotic cosmos? Just think about it; REALLY consider it. If that were the case, how would that make you feel? Would it put a slight warmth in your heart, a miniscule smile on your face, or a little joy in each step you take? For some, perhaps you would immediately question what kind of omnipotent being would subject you to the bitter existence that you know. I know I would be a part of that group.
What if I told you that you were loved, and loved enough that someone would die for you; who, though being himself innocent, would take on a punishment for a crime that you were guilty of and that you should be paying the price for?
Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah Jesus blah blah blah blah. He’s the most controversial figure in history, for starters, and that’s not even touching just how highly doubtful the religion of Christianity/religion appears in general.
But let me give you something to consider that perhaps you haven’t before.
We know that Christ is the most well-documented figure of the ancient world. Numerous studies, even the most skeptical, at least conclude that a man named Jesus Christ existed sometime during the first half of the first century AD, and that He was crucified (watch ‘The Case for Christ‘ for more on this; the true story of a journalist who didn’t believe in God that sought to prove it was a sham- great movie). But for now let’s assume only that much and nothing more. Let’s assume He was just an ordinary man. Even taking out all of those factors, here was a man that willingly chose to die because He claimed that He loved every person… EVER.
Say it out loud. Every. Person. Ever.
Let it sink in; let it REALLY penetrate your mind and your heart. All people.
Past.
Present.
Future.
And He did that with YOU being a part of that number. You, who wouldn’t come around for another TWO THOUSAND years, and yet this man did it with you in mind.
Maybe that takes away a little bit more of the bitterness towards life and the universe because someone who didn’t owe you anything gave you His greatest gift He could offer so you could spend an eternity with Him in paradise. Maybe… maybe there is such a thing as definitive good in the universe. Maybe not everything is bad or meaningless.
And if there is something at least remotely good… maybe there is some truth to this Jesus man’s claim. After all, there isn’t just a little darkness in the universe, but a lot! If definitive, identifiable good even exists a little, doesn’t it stand to reason that more of it exists? Maybe even a lot?
Listen…
…I know that life can be cruel and that existence can seem painful more often than not. And I know what it feels like to want to dull the pain, or even stop it altogether. And I’m not here to peddle Christianity; I would be doing you, myself, and most importantly God a huge disservice and severely undercutting the value of all three.
But I want you to know, that there is SO. MUCH…
…More
These past 5 or so months I’ve experienced with brothers and sisters in Christ living out what the Bible says; not merely going to church on Sundays or sharing a lovely little Bible verse on Facebook, but actually DOING LIFE the way we have been shown in the text and…
…man
…it’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my whole life.
I’ve seen lives CHANGED with MY OWN EYES! I’ve seen drug addicts turn their lives around, I’ve seen those in the depths of depression given hope, seen people prophesy and seen their prophecies fulfilled, witnessed miraculous healing, heard people speak in tongues, had multiple people have encounters with God where they were all told the same thing. I mean, come on, the chances of that happening? You do the math. I don’t have to because I know how laughably slim the odds are if this is all just one hulking universe spinning out of control on its own with no one, NO GOD, to guide it.
You want to know something I have heard a lot about our squad and the Christians in it over the last 3 months? People have said, over and over again, these words:
“There’s something different about you all.”
I’m not here to solve all your problems, friend. I won’t make that boast.
But I WILL boast in the God I have come to know these past several months. He’s not the God you hear about a lot in America. That God is way too political. My God doesn’t care about politics.
He cares about His people.
He cares about me.
He cares about YOU.
And He wants to call men and women, His most beloved creation, out of the darkness and into the light… the light of His love! How often does the Bible tells us that He grieves for us, longs for us, loves after us, will drop everything to come after us (spoiler: it says all of these things… a lot)?
What’s more, He’s a God that makes promises… AND KEEPS THEM. He is faithful to you! How rare faithfulness is among men and women these days.
And He’s a God of healing. And we are all of us broken in far more ways that even modern medical science can always determine. Another thing I have seen during this World Race experience is the things God will reveal in your deepest, darkest places, if you let Him. People uncovered things they had completely forgotten! I’ve seen Him do things that no therapist ever could!
It’s beyond incredible.
* * *
In short, if you were to really get to know the REAL God of the Bible, you would eventually find that He is all you could ever want or need.
So I ask the question, “What are you doing with your life?” I have spent so many years watching people wander aimlessly through life, looking for fulfillment/love/comfort/etc. in things, living with no hope, just trying to cope with the pain however best the world can offer (which, in this world ruled by Satan, is JUST enough to keep you alive, but nothing more; not unlike slavery). I have watched the church in America and am guilty myself just as they are of not taking God too seriously, and I reaped from my faith in Him and His power just as much as I gave it: Nothing.
This blog isn’t supposed to solve your problems just like that.
This blog isn’t supposed to put down Christians who haven’t been living as the Bible instructed us to.
This blog IS supposed to inform you of the truth you never hear and give you the right place to start.
This blog IS supposed to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ to reevaluate their faith and life, in love.
I have become far more aware recently of just how dire a situation in which not just Christianity but humanity is. The listlessness of both has just been steadily growing, and without change, the kind I see now that only the REAL God of the Bible can bring, both are on a path of their own self-destruction.
By writing this blog I want to embolden my brothers and sisters to really seek out God and share what they find. I want to give hope, REAL hope, to a hopeless world. How many of my hundreds of friends on Facebook alone do I know of that merely wake up each day with no other goal than to survive? How many do I know of where they gladly admit that existence is pain and outwardly joke but secretly inside long for death to take them? The reality is written plainly. The ever-mounting drug overdoses and suicide rates betray the fact daily.
With each day the desire and passion within me grow to shake off the bonds I see more and more clearly in which Satan has my fellow man.
It’s time for the truth to be proclaimed.
It’s gotta be now, or it may be never.
It starts with hope!
It starts when the church REALLY walks in that God-given, Holy Spirit driven power!
It’s is within our power to share it.
You don’t need a degree in theology to do it.
Just believe those three words you learned first in Sunday School,
Have a willing heart,
And God will supply the rest.
That quote at the top of this blog; do you know where it comes from? Ecclesiastes. Yup, straight from the Bible, the very own words of king Solomon himself, as a matter of fact. It honestly sounds like some profound quote from a movie or great piece of modern literature.
But… wait a minute, I get what he’s saying. That can’t be. The Bible is outdated and out of touch with modern man, isn’t it? It’s a book full of do’s and dont’s, used to manipulate people, best suited for those of a… provincial way of thinking.
Oh my friend, if you could only see what I can see!
It’s a book of God’s heart, it’s a love letter to me and you! It has many authors and it spans the ages, and though it has had many authors, it all connects; it is complete! It is masterfully written.
And it is… truly…
BEAUTIFUL
* * *
Thank you for the time you took to see me through to the end of this. If any of what I just said to you above rings true I hope by the end of this you find that you truly are not alone. And if you would like to talk more with me about God, faith, miracles, anything, I want to embolden you past doubt and skepticism to reach out to me ([email protected]). I would love to discuss it and your insights!
And… more to the heart of the matter, again, I know both personally and also through others just how devastating depression is and I take it, even the seemingly “little stuff”, seriously. So if you are struggling with depression, though it may seem cliche, I really want to encourage you to reach out for immediate help with that, especially if you ever struggle with thoughts of suicide. I know someone is reading this and struggling with the very thoughts I just addressed, maybe even deeper ones (and I am familiar with the deeper ones, too).
Suicide Prevention Lifeline website: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
There’s so much more to this life. It has meaning- YOU have meaning.
Seek it out. Seek HIM out!
“You will seek Me and you will find Me when you search for Me with ALL your heart.” + Jeremiah 29:13
