When Life Seems Meaningless

Have you ever been struck by that feeling of pure meaninglessness? That deep down feeling in your heart of meaninglessness. Perhaps it occurs when you are at work or when you are alone.  Or perhaps in the face of some incomprehensible tragedy or nasty conflict. We toil and strive to find meaning in our lives, and if we are honest with ourselves we rarely find it. Sure, there are times when we might experience pure bliss and euphoric sensations, but that existential angst for meaning behind it all is still there.

C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  C.S. Lewis provides an answer for us. When faced with the reality of living in a meaningless universe man seeks meaning with something outside of oneself. Something to fully satisfy. Something to provide a sense of meaning.

I believe that the Jesus Christ of the Bible is the answer to the absurdity of life.  I believe this Jesus, revealed in all His deity and humanity; in glory and humility is the answer to our meaningless.  And yet even so – even though I give intellectual assent to this truth - why then do I feel like he is not the answer to the meaningless of life so often?

I assure you that it is nothing lacking on His part – rather it is foolish sin and pride and doubt and fear and faithlessness on mine. What must we do – when as Christians we are tempted to fall in the pit of meaningless?  We must reach up!  We must grasp hold!  We must boldly and daily approach God and confess, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).  We must cling to the gospel during our darkest days. We must remember the promises of God.

Maybe one day in the new Heavens and the new Earth we will all understand why we had to struggle. Until then, the struggle is real, and the feeling of meaninglessness still lives. Keep holding on, friends. You are not alone in this battle. We struggle together in Christ.  This is why we need the church.

What things are hindering you from fulfilling the will of God?

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to focus on the fulfillment of Gods will.  In Matthew 6:9,10, Jesus said to pray like this: “Our Father in heaven, hollowed be your name, Your  kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Note again the emphasis of the latter portion of this section  of prayer as it focuses on the will of God being accomplished on earth.  The will of God is given a place of paramount importance in this model prayer.

There are many obstacles that get in the way of our goal to fulfill Gods will.  First there is the obstacle of sinister assault.  The Bible teaches us that our enemy schemes against us.  The intent of Satan is to deceive, disorient, discourage and destroy us – he is very intentional and purposeful as he goes about like a lion on the hunt.  Second, there is the challenge of temptation.  Our own sinful nature drives us to sinful solutions to meet needs, gratify desires and heal hurts.  When we yield to these sinful temptations we are choosing to find aid in things that seem to provide relief and comfort, but ultimately will stunt our growth spiritually and render us, at least for a season, useless to the purposes of God in our life and witness.  Finally there is the obstacle of wrong relationships.  There are people that we surround ourselves with that may have a damaging influence upon us – wrong relationships can hinder your usefulness in fulfilling the will of God.

What of these three hindrances  are standing in the way of your  fulfilling the will of God?  I encourage you to pray your way through these obstacles and fulfill Gods will for your life.

Trust and Obey - For There is no other way to turn around broken relationships (part three)

The Conflict Isaac so terribly feared and avoided persisted because the root of was his own fear and mistrust.  As long as he held on to his fear, his hurt he would continue in an endless cycle of conflict that resulted in yet more fear and mistrust.  But when Isaac fully considered and believed the promised of God, when he saw himself as a privileged child of the covenant God made between Himself and Isaac's father, Abraham, when he finally obeyed the command to "fear not," the conflict between himself and Abimelech vanished.
Abimelech came to Isaac to cut a deal.  Isaac still received Abimelech carefully, and not at all with a trusting heart toward him, but Isaac received his enemy with newfound trust in God.  Something has changed in Isaac, he now has a newfound confidence in the promise and power of God.  And take note that something has also changed in Abimelech.  The one who sought to drive Isaac away now begins a bargaining process for peace!  What changed in Abimelech is seen in the words he spoke to Isaac: "You are now blessed of the Lord!"  Finally, what Isaac has been all along postionally before his enemies, he is now practically as well.
Have you considered that much of the conflict and hardship in our lives with others has in fact much more to do with our trust and faith and submission to God that the issue that pursues us?   Recurring conflicts and trials and difficulties persist with us, very often because of our own failure - not in the context of a circumstance - but in some aspect of our relationship with God.  Pray that God would reveal such things.

Trust and Obey - for there is no other way to turn around broken relationships! (Part 2)

I want us to see today what great change is brought to Isaacs relationship with others when he learns to trust God - even with his greatest fears.  Just as the Israelite's saw themselves as grasshoppers easily controlled and easily crushed, they were thereby seen in a familiar manner in the eyes of their enemy.  How they perceived themselves ultimately became how they were seen by others.  In this narrative, we see how Isaac saw himself, and how that led to how he was seen and treated by others.  I want us to get this - Isaacs enemies saw that he was POSITIONALLY blessed of God, but they also saw that Isaac was not PRACTICALLY blessed because he did not walk in that way.  Isaac - positionally was blessed, but because of fear, distrust - they knew they could dictate to Isaac his roles and even his choices - - even in the midst of the promised land.

The point I wish to make is this:  the conflict that Isaac so terribly feared persisted because to root of the conflict and the manner in which his enemies were treating him stemmed from his own self perception.  As long as he was controlled by his emotions of fear and distrust, he would be easily controlled by circumstances and people, and not God.

But something change.  God gave Isaac a command - - and we must give Isaac credit here - - because he DID fear God more than he feared men.  God told Isaac to dig a well, and to stay put, and Isaac did.  God made Isaac take a stand - and when he did, it changed everything.  We will see the results tomorrow.

Trust and Obey - for there is no other way to turn around broken relationships!

They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  (ESV)

Fear is a nasty enemy of relationships.  There are two parties in the conflict alluded to above, and at the heart of their conflict was fear and disobedience.  Strangely, they do not recognize, or at least admit that they are hurting one another - but they are, their relationship is broken, they do not trust one another, and they hurt each other.

Sinful disobedience and untrusting fear break relationships.  What comes first - I do not know, but I do know they feed one another.  Sinful disobedience by one party feeds the fear of another.  So too does fear and distrust of one part feed the sinful disobedience of the other - - it is a terrible, vicious, seemingly hopeless and unending cycle.  This series of posts centers on fear, and though there is much that may be said about disobedience, we will stick to our treatment of fear.  Let us do so by looking to another example of where fear led to disobedience.

In Numbers 13:33 - 12 spies of Israel were sent to search the land of promise, the land they have been given and commanded to go and possess by God.  Though the action of sending spies is treated with neutrality in the narrative, it is driven by sinful fear.  So here we see an example of fear resulting in sin. 

The spies go into the land - and they return with a report.  10 of the 12 brought back a discouraging report - yes the land is rich - it is all that God promised it would be - 10 of the 12 brought back a report of Giants in that land, and great walled cities, and thus, they failed to believe they could take and possess what God had promised.  They concluded their report with these revealing words:  "And we were in OUR OWN sight as grasshoppers, AND SO WERE IN THEIR SIGHT."

God made many promises to the Children of Israel, but they would not possess it - because they took their eyes off of Gods power and strength and sufficiency and cast them upon an enemy that seemed greater to them than even the God who had thus far led them and fed them and cared for them and protected them and made even their shoes and clothing to last over the entire 40 year journey.

Fear kept them from obediently going in to possess the promise.  Fear granted their enemies more power than the enemy actually had.  Tomorrow (Lord willing) we will visit here again to see what this story has to do with Isaac and the passage mentioned above.  

Do Not Fear: Consider the One Who Will Fight For You. (Part Two)

This weekend, as I was speaking to a friend about my last post, "Consider the One who will fight for you," we began to reason together what is, we believe the greatest obstacle to overcome fear, and we decided that it is the inability to let fear go.  We actually hold on to fear.  I think the reason is that many, who struggle fear, tend to feel that they can only depend on themselves, they will trust none other, including God. They tend to have a need to control circumstances, even other people. 

This was a struggle of which Isaac, and Jacob both contended with. 

God responded with  a witness, a testimony, of His goodness and faithfulness and authority and strength as the only dependable answer to the circumstances that confronted Isaac.  At the point of Isaacs most cunning schemes to control and manipulate his circumstances, God revealed Himself as the personal God who has promised provision and protection and had to track record, as proven in the life of Abraham, of His sufficiency to accomplish all that he had promised.

We possess such a witness as well.  Romans 15:4 says, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."  God has a proven track record of delivering on His promises, why would we look any where else??

Do Not Fear: Consider the One Who Will Fight For You.

"I am the God of your father Abraham, do not fear." Genesis 26:24
God has made promises to those who respond to Him in faith and obedience; promises to keep them, provide for them, and in the Promised One, Jesus Christ, to save from sin and death.  In all that God has promised He has never left Himself without a witness.  Acts 14:17 says: "Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."  .
This is not merely a call of remembrance, but it is a call to think upon the moral character of God. Such a witness lets us know that all blessings come from God.  God reminds Isaac of such things because fear is a result of forgetfulness; it is the result of forgetting what God has done, it is forgetting that God is good.  By reminding Isaac of his father Abraham, and more importantly Gods covenantal faithfulness to Abraham, God is revealing the root of Isaac's fearfulness, it is forgetfulness, thoughtlessness and distrust.
The greatest enemy of fear is knowledge.  To know more about God, about His moral goodness and faithfulness, about His strength and sufficiency is the most basic fundamental of Spiritual Warfare.   If you want to grow in spiritual strength and defeat spiritual enemies like fear, engage in thoughtful consideration of the character and attributes of God, and reflect that the One who is strong and wise and faithful and sufficient is the very one who has promised to engage in the battle for your soul, and win! 
Remember the God of your Fathers, consider the record of His faithful fulfillment of every one of His promises, and trust that it is He who will fight on behalf of all who trust in him.  In fact, He has already won! So then, do not fear!

How Father Abraham was a Good Father.....

Isaac was most certainly a witness to the many ways God blessed his father Abraham.  But sometimes, when life is hard and fears are mounting, we are in need of reminding, and I think that is the intention God had when He told Isaac; "I am the God of your father Abraham." 

These words would bring to Isaacs mind the many promises and blessings he witnessed manifest in the life of his father because God is always faithful. It would bring to mind the instruction that Abraham gave Isaac as he was growing up in Abrahams home.  Abraham was a faithful father who taught his children the will and ways and faithfulness of God.  The Bible records the sentiment of God concerning Abraham in Genesis 18:19 - "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."

I have some friends who are expecting the arrival of a little baby girl this week - and if I could speak into the heart of that new father something I believe to be most helpful to successfully loving that little girl - it is this - be just like Abraham.  Take care to teach the ways of God, to instill - not merely knowledge about God - but the "ways of God" so that she may know not merely stuff about God - but that she may love God. Let her witness His faithfulness in your faithfulness to instruct and guide and care and love her. Take care to note the special grace and mercy and love and blessing God has demonstrated to you.  Let her know that God is faithful to His promise and rewards a life that honors and glorifies Him in obedience and righteousness. Tell those things to your child.

Fearful Isaac needed to be reminded of the faithfulness of God - and what was the most powerful example of the faithfulness of God to one so young?  The faithfulness of God to his parents.  In my life - and amidst the many trials and terrors and pain - it is the remembrance of those things my faithful parents - and in particular - my faithful father - taught me about the faithfulness of My God!  Because of their witness - I learned to sing -

There is a Savior, What joys express!

His eyes are mercy, His Word is rest,

For each tomorrow, for each today,

There is a Savior, who lights the way.


"We have seen and we testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world."
I John 4:14

“…I am the God of your father Abraham…” Genesis 26:24

Isaac was continuously brutalized by his own imagination. Though a great man who was thoroughly blessed, Isaac never realized practically what he was positionally in God. His life bore no evidence of the power and glory and faithfulness and sufficiency of God. He fails to demonstrate the providential graces of God because he lacked trust and faith. God thusly confronts Isaac and his fear with a glorious self revelation; “I am the God of your father Abraham.”

There is a two-fold purpose in the self-revelation of God to His servant; first it is a call to remembrance. By mentioning Father Abraham, God is reminding Isaac that he himself, as a descendent of the seed of Abraham, is the benefactor of all the promises of God concerning that seed. God is guiding Isaacs heart to remember the faithfulness of God toward Abraham. And so God first causes Isaac to remember.

The second purpose behind this self revelation was to correct. God purposed many great things for Abraham and his progeny in keeping with the covenant promise he established with the Patriarch of faith. Isaac must need be corrected, for as he fails to trust, as he continues to fear, he relinquishes the joy of his salvation resulting in the serious sin of disbelief.

We may take from these brief words much to consider and hold in faith for our own joy. The joy that God has promised will be realized when the patterns of fear and distrust are replaced with a pattern of faithful and believing dependence. Please understand - we cannot deter the will of God, and there is nothing that will separate us from the love of God, but we can relinquish the joy and power of it in daily life because of distrust and fear. This is what lies behind the command, “do not fear;” fear is the grave enemy of our assurance in God. So then - “Do Not Fear!”

Fear: The Running Man

So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.  And the men of the place asked about his wife.  And he said, "She is my sister;" for he was afraid to say, "she is my wife," because he thought, "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold."  Gen 26:6.7

It is a part of the fathering nature of God that He not allow us to go forward without growing in His grace to overcome that which threatens our enjoyment of His blessing or our usefulness to His purposes.  And so -  by a strange, yet loving providence of God, conflict will follow Isaac no matter where he may run to.

You may say that Isaac was a running man.  We see at the beginning of Chapter 26 that he ran from the drought rather than turning to and trusting God for provision and protection. He was intending to run to Egypt, but God confronted him and instructed him to go to Gerar.  At Gerar Isaac will have gone to a place familiar to his family - it was here that Isaac's father Abraham fled.  And all for the same reason - Like his son, Abraham too feared for his life because of the beauty of his wife; and here too, Abraham contrived the same - most ridiculous deception, claiming that his wife was not his wife, but his sister.

Fear is a sinful pattern of thought - it is a mistrust of God and His character and capacity to protect and preserve His people.  Because of fear, important things are avoided, foolish decisions are made, and much misery and brokenness and relational messes occur.

What do we do when we are confronted with fear.  Over the next few posts, we will give thought to this question as we work through the Genesis narrative concerning Gods gracious dealings with fearful Isaac.

Monday Morning Thoughts About Church

Have you ever given thought to who you truly are?  Well, who are you?  There are probably many ways that you could describe yourself.  I am a man, a father, a son, unfortunately single due to divorce, an assistant manager of a book store, a friend, a lover of books, a Christian. . . .  This list could go on and on, but there is one very important way that God wants us to think about ourselves.  If we are saved, we are his children - we are family!  II Thessalonians says; "We ought always to thank God for you brothers..."  Do not get hung up on the word brothers, if you are a woman in Christ, Paul would call you sister.

The point is the idea of belonging, Paul wants us to know that we belong!  He wants us to know, that in Christ -  we belong to God as His children.  But more than that - Paul wants us to know that we also belong to one another.

There is much power in that truth!  There is much power in our being incorporated into a body, a family.  And it may be well that I apply this wondrous truth with a rehearsal of all the gracious blessings we enjoy, in Christ, together as His Church.  But that is not the way I am thinking this morning.  I am thinking rather in terms of our living in a troubled world, together, as the church. 

We live in a terribly uncertain time.  There are great evils that are broadcast right into our living spaces through cables and airwaves  every day.  We see the threat of ISIS.  We are concerned with Iran gaining nuclear capabilities.  We see things in our neighborhoods that are violent and terrible - these are precarious times! 

The times in which Paul was writing were also precarious times for the people of God - there was much evil then as well.  And what does Paul do when he sees the power of sin at work in the world.  He gives thanks for the church!  Why?  Because while Satan is at work - so too is Jesus Christ at work - through His church!  Matthew 16:18 states: "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."

What should we do as we watch as the world grows seemingly darker and more evil?  Thank God for the Church.  We ought to value what Christ is doing through His people, we ought to stand together, pray together, worship together, bring the light of the Gospel of Christ into the world together!

Out of this dark and difficult  passage on the mystery of sin in the world, Paul launches into one of the most wonderful and beautiful expressions of thanksgiving for the church in all the Bible.  Who are you! In Christ, you are the church.

Trust and Obey

Genesis 16:9 - And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, "return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands."

Hagar has a big problem, she has found herself stuck between two no win choices.  If she goes forth, she has no provision or protection, if she goes back, she returns to a mistress that despises her.  She is in a desperate situation, and yet, as with Naaman, it is here that God intervenes.  She is met by the Angel of the LORD who gives to her a third option; trusting obedience."  What the Angel of the LORD has said she is to do will prove to be a great test to her - she must return, and so she did, she returned to the heavy hand of Sarai. 

Could it truly be the will of God for Hagar to return to Sarai and remain there under hurtful and troublesome circumstances?  This appears to be a most cruel thing that God requires of her.  And there is still a question, it too seems tauntingly cruel, "Where are you come from, and where are you going?"  The intent of the question is not so much to gather information, but to reveal a problem and need.  The question is in fact diagnostic in nature, it aims to reveal to her the hopelessness of her plan.  It forces her to consider the consequence of either choice she can make.  In either choice there is great trouble.  But in the midst of her despair, she is met with a God that is cognoscente of her dilemma and speaks directly to the circumstances in which she finds herself - - - simply put - God hears.  Genesis 16:11 says - The LORD has heard your affliction.

When we are in hopeless despair, our hopelessness and weakness touches the heart of God and he is quick to dispatch encouragement and assistance - the Angel of the LORDS is gracious in the face of her great desperation and reveals a third way for her to go - it is not an easy way - and not a way without its own discomforts  - it is the way of trusting obedience - it is the way of ultimate deliverance and salvation. 

The Slaughtering Place

Genesis 13:18: Then Abraham moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an alter there to the LORD.

“And built there an alter.”  Words similar to these have already been said concerning Abraham several times before this point in the narrative of his life and travels.  At each step along his way to the land that God promised, Abraham would erect an alter for the worship and service of God. 

But let us be very careful to understand that the idea of “alter” had in the days of Abraham a very different connotation than our own.  When we think of an alter, we envision a place in the front of a building where the church gathers; it is that place upon which stands the pastor to preach.  Or we may think of a table where candles are burnt, or even a kneeling rail where we can go to pray.  But the idea that Abraham had about the alter is much different than that.  The definition of alter is actually “The Slaughtering Place.”

In the Old Testament, sacrifices were brought to the alter and be put to death and offered to God.  In Abrahams time, the father of the family would serve as priest and make such offerings.  Later a priesthood would be set aside by God to accomplish this service.

The general idea was that prayer and worship were to be accompanied by sacrifice, offerings and gifts.  This is true yet even today.  In order that our worship be acceptable to the LORD, our sins must be atoned for by an offering.  Thankfully for the Christian, that offering has been made by sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God – Jesus Christ – The LORDS own son.  The Bible says in Hebrews 10:19-23:  “Therefore, brothers,  since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” 

"The Transformed Life" by D A Carson

What leaves you astonished?  Let me share something with you that has astonished me:  II Thessalonians 1:11 says, “We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”

That is an astonishing statement.  I would have expected it to say, “that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of His.”  But the passage does not say that, it says, “every good purpose of yours!”  Don Carson, in his book “The Transformed Life” says, “Gods people have been so transformed through their conversion to Jesus Christ…that they now develop new sets of goals.  Prompted and shaped by goodness and faith, they inevitably formulate new purposes, decidedly Christian plans, Christian purposes and Christian goals.

That is what happens when we experience a transformation of life.  Carson intends to help his reader to understand that it is not enough to drift through life.  Life as God intended requires intense engagement.  It is not spiritual to sit idle and just be “open to whatever the LORD wants me to do.”   That is not spiritual, it is laziness, it is passivity.  The Transformed life is not passive.  God invites us to take the initiative, to formulate plans and to act in faith.  Carson says that an effect of the Gospel is that these things are informed and transformed by the Word of God, conforming us into the image of Jesus so that all we purpose is good and in accordance with His pleasure and will.
The Transformed Life by D A Carson is a book I highly recommend.