Quick thought on the meaning of life

You know, a nice shallow subject on a Friday night.

I've really been struggling with what it is that I am supposed to do with my life at the moment.  So the place to look for encouragement is Ecclesiastes, right?  If you have 20 minutes, I'd take the time and read through the whole book.  I've listed some particular verses that stuck out to me just now, and may offer a few comments.

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 1:8

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. 1:18
There is so much truth in this statement for my life in the past couple of months.  There is certainly something to be said for remaining naive to how the world works, be it in sickness, death, pain, loss, disappointment. . . the more you know does not mean you will be a happier person.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 3:11
I am so thankful for this.  If this were the end, I would be done.  I don't know what heaven is like, but I know my task here is to do God's work and make disciples for him.

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. 3:14-15
At least I don't have to rely on just me.  I'd be doomed.

And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4:2-3

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 4:9-12

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. 5:18-20

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 7:10
The question "How did I get here from there?" has been pestering me.  It's an empty pursuit.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.  Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 7:20-22
This is hard, especially when there are people you look up to and you forget that they are people, they are fallible.  On the other side, it makes you think about how much you've failed other people and missed opportunities to defend rather than go with the audience on a matter.

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.  Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.  Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 9:7-10

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.  11:4
Don't let circumstances keep you from working.

So Solomon's last statement is the charge against being idle, and is the best life advice:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. 12:12-14

Fear God and keep His commandments. . . it's always troublesome when a few words carry so much weight.  It makes perfect sense- God knows everything anyway, He knows how it is going to turn out, so why do we let ourselves by paralyzed?  What do we really have to fear?

relativism. woof

"Fascinating stuff. I try to remain equal parts inquisitive and open as well as skeptical. Just try to take everything in and form my own opinion as to what seems right 'to me'. What we believe about life is all personal perspective anyway, right?"


I read this on Facebook a couple weeks ago.

Woof.

It was attached to a post from a website called "Truth Theory: Keep Your Mind Open."  The article and corresponding videos were all theories about life, ranging from our interconnectedness to the earth as a living organism to the collective integration of the "Global Consciousness."

Again I will say: woof.

But how many people are out there with this attitude?  "Prove it to me."  "What's good for you is good for you and what's good for me is good for me."  "Well, from the way I see it. . ."

What's interesting is the paradox of the belief that there are no absolutes in the world (which, in and of itself is an absolute).  So, based on that line of thinking alone, we have to accept the presence of absolutes of some kind.

Also, if you don't want to go psychologically, then let's go more basic physics, because if you drop something from your hand, it will absolutely fall towards the ground.  Sorry, gravity is an absolute.  What's interesting about gravity is while it is observable and recordable, there's still no explanation of why.  Seriously, check out wikipedia- I know it's not always looked kindly upon as a source of reputable information but holy cow guys we still don't know why gravity is.

Or maybe we do.

Colossians 1:17- And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Really the whole passage is great.  But I want to just focus on one phrase- "all things hold together."  The Greek word συνέστηκεν is translated  "to cohere."

You guys. Scientists are studying coherence in gravity.  Google it and you'll see more results.

Hebrews 1:1-3a- Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. 

John 1:1-5- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Gravity is contained within the words of Jesus.  Depending on what theory you believe, I'd like to imagine that Jesus breathed out gravitons (if gravity indeed uses particles).

So basically, gravity is Jesus-breath.


. . . I'm not really sure how I got here but my point is this: there are absolutes to be found.  And God has revealed Himself to us.  

Waiting for the Lord

I feel a little scattered today- I think it's the congestion/sickness.  I don't think the writing will be quite as eloquent as I usually try to make it, but I don't want to miss this opportunity because any time I put off doing a post I never end up actually doing it the way I intend to.


Language is so fascinating, and unfortunately we pass over it so quickly.  There are many different verses with the phrase "waiting on the Lord."  The ones I want to focus on are in the Old Testament, using the Hebrew word "qavah."  Literally the word means "to bind together," as in, to make a rope by bringing many strands together.  Figuratively it is used to mean "to wait eagerly, to hope, to expect."  I know I am in a state of waiting for the Lord in more ways than one in my life.  Several other close colleagues of mine are also in this place.  But does it mean that we need to sit and wait for the Lord to move?  Let's explore three passages:

Isaiah 40:31: But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25-27:  The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.  It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Psalm 25:4-5: Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

I see a lot of activity in those verses, even though each of them focuses on waiting.  Isaiah says waiting on the Lord gives us renewed strength, lets us soar, lets us walk or run and not run out of steam!  That's awesome.  So if we use the literal translation, it means that those who bind themselves to God will be empowered.  That's really cool.  If we go more figuratively, it means those that hope and expect the Lord's power will receive it.  Again, really cool.  But I think the clear implication is that upon having God's power, we do something with it.

You know what it doesn't say?  Wait and God will take care of everything.

Lamentations puts the phrase of seeking after God in the same thought as those waiting for him.  Continuing on in the same vein of thought, he says it's good to be quiet as we wait for the Lord's salvation.  I think this is referring to the way that we like to tell God how we want things to be done.  But instead of telling Him what to do, we need to remember it's worthwhile to keep quiet.  Jeremiah spends the first part of chapter 3 complaining about how hard he's had it, and then he interrupts himself with the thought of hope in God.  So, it might mean bearing a difficult situation, but God never said life would be easy nor that our definition of good is His.
Again, I say, the "waiting" in these verses is active.  Seeking God, holding one's tongue, bearing the yoke.  Nothing about sitting around while God works, but us working with the understanding of hope in God (remember what hope is all about anyway).

In Psalm 25, we don't see the waiting until the end, and all the imagery is about paths.  For me, path implies that you are moving.  What's the point of asking God where you are supposed to go if you're just going to stand by and look at it? "Yeah God, that looks cool, but I'm just gonna stand here and stare at it for a while.  Thanks for revealing where I'm supposed to start heading next, I'm gonna wait till you start dragging me along."  I guess.  I don't know.  I'm sick.
I love what Charles Spurgeon has to say about Psalm 25: "Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain. It is our duty and our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in expectancy, in trust all the days of our life. Our faith will be tried faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial without yielding. We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously he once waited for us."


There's one other little point, but if we're going to analyze words, let's also analyze phrases.  The translation is typically "wait for" and not "wait on."  I think there's a lot of wisdom in that.  We wait on doctors to call us back, we wait on people who are late, we wait on food and drinks to be brought to our table at a restaurant.  That's a very passive activity (as long as you don't ask a waiter! hah).  On the other side, we wait for Christmas morning, and we prepare for it by getting and wrapping gifts and singing songs and such.  We wait for the end of the work day, diligently accomplishing our daily tasks until it is time to clock out.  We wait for the weather to change so we can go outside, but we typically fill our day with an alternate activity.  Waiting for is active.  It's anticipating a change.

So, what are you doing?  Are you sitting and waiting on it to happen, or are you waiting for it while continuing to move in the direction you are led?