End It All

            Just look around. So much pain. So much thoughtless destruction. So much hunger. People are lost and everyone has an answer… and no one has an answer.

            Why is there pain? Where’s the joy? Where’s the hope? Why are we alive?

The Sunday School Answer

            The church answers are the following: pain and suffering is the result of sin, and we are alive to glorify God by serving Him. But I’m not going to lie… those answers sometimes seem hollow.

             Tell the parents of the many Christian children murdered recently at the hands of ISIS that their children’s fate was the result of sin. Tell the child whose family has been taken away from her that she exists to love the God that allowed it to happen.

             You have to forgive them if they don’t take comfort in those answers.

What Is the Answer?

             What is the answer to the hopelessness that sometimes is life? I tried an experiment. I tried to take myself out of it all (my Christian biases, etc.). I set myself up outside everything and looked in. Is there another answer besides the Sunday school one?

             I thought about pleasure. The people who live for the moment seem to enjoy themselves the most, right? They have the good times and the fun friends and they couldn’t care less about life. Maybe that’s the way to go?

             But it can’t be. I look at the people who define that lifestyle, the celebrities, and they aren’t happy. They have the money and the sex and the fame, yet they are even emptier than everyone else. Their words and actions echo that they, too, still are looking for an answer. That means that pleasure-seeking isn’t it.

            I thought about work. Maybe we are alive to produce things. Our worth and life’s value is tied to what we make.

            But then that means that the mentally ill and the physically deformed aren’t equal to everyone else because they can’t produce like “normal” people can. That also means that the very old and very young are inferior to everyone else. And, on top of that, the people who embody this belief also aren’t happy. They spend all their days at the office, only to find their life has gone by and they haven’t enjoyed a moment of it.

            I thought about helping others. Maybe that’s it! We are alive to help others. This hits close to home for me, because I sense that this is my calling in life.

             But in the end, this fails if left by itself. It doesn’t last, because what are you helping them towards? You are helping them to go above and beyond… what? What are you pointing them towards? If you point them to helping others, then they point others to helping others… this is a continuous cycle with no fulfilling ending. No one is helping anyone out to anything final and eternal.

This Leaves… the Sunday School Answer

            Let’s revisit the SS answer: pain is the result of sin, and we are on earth to serve God. Why does that just feel so empty?
            It hit me. The reason why is because I don’t hear what should, but rarely does, come next.

            We are living to serve God, yes, but what has He promised us? An eternity of joy. An eternity of Himself, one of pure purpose and fulfillment. We serve God so that one day there will be no more pain and suffering. No more hunger and hatred. We serve God so that one day we can have pure relationships where there is no disappointment. No letdowns.

             Without eternity, there is no purpose to life.

             If you look to this world for answers (obedience to God, pleasure, work, helping others), you will be left feeling empty. It’s only when God Himself is the goal that you will find happiness. You serve Him, yes, but you serve Him so you can perfect your relationship with Him. Obedience isn’t the goal, an eternity with God is.