We often struggle to identify the values and beliefs in our lives. Sometimes life is full of promises and surprises, at other times, life seems meaningless.
It simply doesn’t feel good when we cannot contribute much to our family or community. When we lose this feel-good factor, we tend to think about the meaning of life.
Then we often search for the meaning of life. Life is like a vapor, a smoke, a dew, and a flower, which appears in the morning and disappears or trampled upon in the evening.
It isn’t normal to lose a job, suffer a chronic health condition, and adjust to the moment of living out our best.
Even though people do good, simply doing good isn’t the definition of life; it is the catalyst to achieve something. And that too, our wants and desperate desires. Money, pleasures, and successes in any form do not define life. There’s more to it.
Struggles in Life:
At times, we felt we were past our prime too early. We all struggle but in different ways. Depending too much on others because of obvious and unavoidable circumstances makes us feel small. Even more so, when we’re no longer in the picture of anything because people see us as incapable of anything.
My struggle with life and experiences have coerced me to reflect strongly on finding the meaning of life. I’ve been through all these that I’ve mentioned here. The meaning of life is to live, not for everyone to prosper. Don’t boast!
However, there’s a positive side to all things. I have to look deep inside me to find the meaning of existence with the help of my Creator.
The Meaning of Life:
The meaning of life, according to God’s word, is to know God as he is; and to enjoy him and all that he is for us in Christ. Mal.3:10
Life is a proving ground for us. God sent us to earth to learn and grow through pleasant and painful experiences. No one enjoys going through the refiner’s fire. He lets us choose between good and evil and decide whether to serve others or focus only on ourselves.
We’re to reflect in this dark world to see some of the light that he has shown to us when Christ, the very Son of God, died in our place, precisely so that we might know God and enjoy God.
Life is a precious Gift:
Life is a precious gift from God. “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-18
Know and Enjoy God:
So that we can know God and enjoy our days with him, he has created us with a brain to think, emotions to feel, a human body and senses to experience the world, and the ability to be in a relationship with others.
Our family relationships, romantic relationships, and the feeling of being loved and needed by someone give meaning to life. Enjoy life, but know that you will be brought into judgment. Eccl. 11
Above all, enjoying our relationship with God even when the people of the world did not bother our existence is the most valuable meaning of life.
Life is preparation for eternity:
We all experience the world but in different ways. All types of life have meaning when we realize there is life beyond the world.
This life is a preparation for eternity. Even those whose faith did not believe in eternity, it’s a preparation for something beyond this world. The God who breathed in his nostrils the breath of life, here in the Hebrew word is nephesh/ nefesh (נפש), Genesis 2:4-7 which gives the man life has the authority, power, and sovereignty to take it away in his timing.
The simplest translation of nephesh could be soul (of mind and spirit). Other creations, by way of creation, although have a life, they may not necessarily have a soul or spirit. Here lies the little or very huge difference, which can be understood with the help of the spirit. Thus, life is not simply about earning a livelihood, eating, and drinking, but a phase of our soul preparing to meet God again.
Now, the Creator does not intend this life (nephesh) to perish but to flourish. Thus, he kept pursuing us even after our fall, to the point of dying for the perishing life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Finding the Meaning of Life:
Learn all that you can about happiness. Let your talents lead you to new opportunities, never close the door. Stay connected and make new connections with people with whom you share interests.
Set achievable goals, don’t be the haywire. Our goals can include those that are challenging but clear. Try to make good decisions, and ask God for help. Help others when you can and stay motivated.
Now is the time for something you’ve always wanted to do. But take care and look after yourself. Reduce worldly pleasures, it’ll be good for you. Always remember your worth, that you only knew.
The Teacher’s Experiment with Life:
The teacher has gone on trying worldly pleasures. He has it all and has done it all. His observation of life is quite interesting and painful having known the royal line after him. It’s a good observation and a long story that we just mentioned the tip of it. Here is his conclusion on the topic.
After having heard (and tried or experienced) it all, here is the conclusion of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes:
“Fear God, and keep his commands, for this is the whole of humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.”
What is Life to You?
To me, life means seeing each day, though sometimes with my eyes strained. Being alive by the abiding grace of God, and knowing where this grace comes from becomes the meaning of my life.
Death is inevitable, however, having eternal life or life after death only by the sacrificial grace of Jesus Christ gives the truest meaning to my life.
It is to live responsibly, in the care of the Lord God my Creator. To know someone loved me and always cared for me making the way to meet him in eternal peace beyond life.
My living today is limited, and at times seems boring and stagnant. Yet realizing the love and being given the ability to reciprocate the love as much as I could makes today count, which becomes the meaning of my life!
