How do we reconcile a life like this… a life that appears to work at times perhaps, or a life that appears only vaguely to resemble what we were born for? Most, if not all, of us will ask, ‘Why isn’t my life working out?’
We just don’t feel that in-tune with ourselves or life a great amount of the time we’re in it. But, there is an answer, and this answer is the same for each one of us.
A. THE PROBLEM ABOUT LIFE NOW
1. The Times We Live In & Our Society
The times have been and always will be apathetic and distant to the motioning of our true heart’s yearning—our hearts belong to God, after all. We live in an indifferent world—one that each of us is perplexed by if we’re honest with ourselves. It’s a world that doesn’t seem to care much.
The decay happening in pockets of today’s societies has been an eternal feature of life as humanity knows it throughout the Centuries past—even though it seems different and particularly pronounced now.
This, in reality, is not our true home, though it feels like it is. Our true home existed before the world—both conceptually before time itself, and also immediately before each of us was actually physically born.
2. The Personal Impact
We’re often crushed on a spiritual level by the world’s impact on us as “personal” beings. We only have to look at the issue of rejection and how we interact with it to see this.
We’ll never feel totally at home on this earth without having first a relevant and thriving relationship with our eternal Father, God, through Jesus Christ. And this is through his redeeming act of death over our sin—bringing us back to the redemption of our pre-carnal states. We are saved before even we accept it.
Life hence only seems to truly make sense when viewed through the Christ-glass.
3. Understanding the Nature of Paradoxes
Life’s fickle. Almost nothing more need be said. Those two words carry with them the injustice and lack of predictability that testifies to the reality of life. We’re damned in the wanton acceptance of this world—which is fundamentally opposed to the idea of heaven and a wonder-soaked eternity.
But, there are reverse paradoxes too which altogether amend the abhorrence of the world. These spiritual paradoxes are woven right throughout the Bible and they’re on display for all to see in almost every facet of life.
This doesn’t always help us though, apart from acknowledging that life plain doesn’t make much sense a lot of the time.
B. THE SOLUTION TO LIFE NOW
I’ve found there’s one way to view life that caters for the disconnect in the abovementioned ‘order of life,’ one that is more apt at resembling disorder.
The solution is all about bringing order to chaos—a specialty of God; something he did right back in Creation and it’s something he’s been doing ever since.
4. Simplify – “The What”
Life, especially today, gets too complicated too quickly. Mix the desires of our hearts with the array of stimuli out in our prevailing world and we have a set of complicating problems that manifests into a whirlwind of tumult and negative potential—the hellish reality a lot of us have lived (or indeed, live).
We’re swayed too far off course too easily. And then we feel a burgeoning distance; we feel barely alive spiritually. The answer is to break all the complexity down and get simple again.
5. Focus – “The How”
It’s fine to know that we need to simplify in order to make our lives work best in a divisive and foreign world, but how is it that we’re to achieve that idea? The overwhelming corrective is where we’re directed. Our focus dictates a great amount regarding what we see and how we feel.
Our focus needs to be on the narrow way of putting into practice the words of God (see Matthew 7:13-14, 24). When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) our focus in life is aligned correctly and suddenly we’re spiritually empowered to see truly and motivated to actually do it, finally.
6. Overcome – “The Why”
There is nothing that has been said previously that comes close to the idea of overcoming. Jesus Christ is the great overcomer, and it’s in his Spirit that we too get opportunities in life at overcoming the obstacles and challenges that lay right there before us… yes, even right now!
Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33 (TNIV). Anyone who reads these words and sees not the life-transforming truth is spiritually blind and already condemned; he or she could only pray for spiritual sight to see: the mandate to overcome is what makes life make sense, immediately.
C. THE CONCLUDING RAMPART – LIFE TO COME
7. The Eternal Mandate
Nothing that we’re currently dissuaded by in life can truly compare with the prospect of the eternal—the place we’re all rapidly headed for. Though it lingers, it surely comes (Habakkuk 2:3). When we forget this fact we are plainly in denial—and the most dangerous denial at that!
The truth is eternity can either be a wonderful place—completely more wonderful than we could ever comprehend—or it can be an absent and lonely place devoid of anything good i.e. devoid of God.
That’s the reality of heaven and hell—whilst we live, the choice lies right there before us… like, even now. We’re empowered to be open-hearted and open-minded to the prospect of eternity.
When all is said and done, the Saviour of the World, Jesus Christ, is the answer, both in terms of life now and to come.
© S. J. Wickham, 2009.
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