There is so much bustle in the world, it is hard to take a moment to pause and reflect on what you are doing that day let alone what you will be doing in the future. Each day rushes by and it feels like I accomplish nothing at all of importance.
That’s not to say that I don’t do things; however, some days it feels like there is nothing there that I can look at with a sense of satisfaction. The only exception, for me at least, is when I am doing something that has been directed by God. When that happens, the whole world lights up for me in a different way.
Those times and days are rare when compared to the vast amount of time that I spend just doing what feels like needs to be done or, worse yet, things that I feel like I want to do. At the end of the days I spend doing things on my own, I feel pretty useless. I sometimes wonder why I am here if this is all that I do with my time.
I will admit that it has gotten worse since my illness as I really can’t do what I did before (not yet, that is.) I look back, though, and realize that what I did before are not things that I want to do today. While I was much busier and could show tangible results, those results felt, then and now, to be empty and meaningless.
It seems like I am not alone in how I feel. So many people are searching for a new purpose. They wander here and there trying to find something new with which to fill their minds, hearts and hours. They feel empty and want to feel fulfilled.
While I search for meaningful things to do, I do it with a whole heart. My heart is filled with God. The broken and empty spot that was there for so long is not longer empty or broken. My own issue is trying to find the things that God wants me to do.
I know, from the experience of writing this blog, when I am doing something that God is directing, I am happy. When I do something that he doesn’t direct, in the end, there is little happiness for me in those results. This is probably true for all Christ-followers. We have the answer but need to apply it to our lives and to the work of our hands.
To the lost and dying world, the emptiness in their hearts burns to be filled. That is what their search is for. They are looking for a way to make their lives feel complete, for something real and true to believe in. They look here and there and sometimes, rarely, they look to God and find the true answer and have their broken hearts made whole.
Most of the time, sadly, they don’t look to God. At least, not to the God of the Bible. Let’s face it, Christianity is not trendy. It is the one and real truth in this entire messed up world but it is not hip to say you are a Christian. Look at what happens to public figures who announce that serving Jesus is the most important thing in their lives. They are ridiculed by the press and marginalized by most other people.
The people in this world wants to hear what they want to hear. They don’t want to hear that they are sinners and evil and have no way to save themselves. If you tell them how they can feel good doing this or that, then they reward you with heaps of gratitude… until the this or that proves to be a false trail to happiness. Which will be what happens if God and Jesus are not at the center of the teaching.
I think that is why self-help books and shows do so well. Right now, there is a show that focuses on how to pare down your possessions, which is truly not a bad thing at all. However, to say that this will bring joy and happiness to your life is not true for the long run. It just minimizes your possessions – that’s all. For some, they will stay in a minimal style life while others will simply start acquiring more and more items that spark joy in their lives. Until those items don’t bring the hoped for joy once again.
Possessions or lack of them are will never bring a true sense of joy. Neither will a relationship, a job or anything else you can think of. There is only one true way to find joy.
The world will try to suppress any mention of God. They have taken him out of the classroom, out of the government, out of just about everywhere you can think of. In all cases, without the mention of God, these areas of society are falling into more and more chaos. But if you mention the absence of God as an issue, you will be hounded, scorned and ridiculed.
Why? The answer is simple. The ruler of this world is Satan. He has dominion at this time. He has already been defeated but he is still in charge of the worldly things. He has lost the overall spiritual battle but he is still trying to drag down as much of humanity as he can. If he has to spend eternity in hell, he wants as much company as he can get to suffer along with him.
So he tells lies and people listen. He tells them what they want to hear and not what they need to hear. Their ears strain against what is true and right but tune into the lies that make them seem like they are in control. That sense of control is what makes them feel like they are gods themselves. It is the same sin that Adam and Eve were guilty of. They wanted to be god and so they broke God’s one commandment.
They brought sin in the world but I can’t blame them. Each of us would, and still do, break the same rule. We try to set ourselves above God.
When I became a Christ-follower many years ago, I found the true answer to happiness. Jesus is that answer. He looked at my sin and said he would pay the price that I owed. That by doing so, it would allow me to appear sinless before God. It is his innocent shed blood that covers my sins and makes them disappear as if they never happened.
Like all Christians, I still have problems with the old sin nature. It rears its head all too often. Sometimes I catch it and repent before it goes too far and other times, I see what I am doing but still keep doing it. It always ends poorly and I bring it to God for him to forgive me (once again) and to give me a new spirit to do what he wants me to do.
It is a constant battle. A spiritual battle. There is a spiritual war being raged in the heavens and on earth. No matter who you are, no matter what your relationship is with the Lord, you are involved in that battle. You are on one side of the other. While the battle is massive, it has only one outcome. Jesus has already won. He did so over two thousand years ago when he hung on a cross and died like a common criminal.
He could have called all the angels in heaven to protect him and they would have heeded his call. However, he did not do so. Why? It is because he loved each of us so much. He was mocked and beaten until he barely looked human. He then died in untold physical agony and with spiritual separation from God, his father. But as he hung there on the cross, he looked over the sins of the entire world for all time and was willing to suffer so that even just one of us could be saved. The good news is that his free gift of pardon is not for one. It is there for each and every one of us to accept… or not.
It is there waiting for you if you are not yet a Christ-follower. Ask Jesus to reveal himself to you as your savior. If you are truly seeking him, you will find him. Don’t be like the rest of the world, looking only to hear what they want to hear. Look for that which you need to and should be listening to. Jesus truly is the answer that will fill your heart with Everlasting Joy.
Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.