Life

Life. What is it? Breath? A beating heart? Physically, perhaps. But that's only one small part. A common phrase used to be, "Get a life." Obviously the person being spoken to was still breathing, and his or her heart was beating. Yet somehow someone thought something was missing.

Sometimes we even find ourselves thinking, I need a life. Maybe those words come at the end of a relationship, after a day of work at an unfulfilling job, after a frustrating encounter with a family member. We feel that something is missing.

Sometimes we look around and see the world we live in and think that life is really messed up. We turn on the news and hear about earthquakes and tsunamis, hurricanes and poverty, and refugees and immigrants. And, to be honest, there are times when I just can't take it anymore. I turn off the news and sigh. Will it ever end?

The answer is yes. One day everything will be at peace. . . will be whole and unbroken again. But that's the future--what about now?

That's the really good news. There is life--full, rich, meaningful life--that is available now. And what's more, we don't have to guess at how to find it. It's not like the fountain of youth; it's not a secret.

Life is found in living the way we were made to live. Your life is part of a great, beautiful, epic story. You are not an accident; you were perfectly designed to be you at this specific time in history, in the specific place that you live.

So many times people say that they don't want to know God because their life will change. They're afraid that they won't have fun or enjoy life anymore if they follow God. It's ironic that the very thing they run from is the only thing that will bring life and real enjoyment.

We were made to know God and to communicate and share life with Him. Apart from Him, we are all incomplete, and we know that something is missing. Some of us spend years, others entire lifetimes, trying to figure out what that missing piece is.

Now, as I said earlier, the future holds a perfect world, but that's not now. We're broken people. We live surrounded by broken people. We want to live life on our terms, and God doesn't force us to do it His way, even though we would be at peace if we did follow Him.

So for now, until God restores creation to what it was in the first place, life is found in joining Him . . . one step at a time. Life is found in speaking kind words. Life is found in forgiving instead of holding grudges or gossiping. Life is found in loving people around us even when it's hard. Life saves us from being bitter and angry and cruel.

I know because I fought against God. I was determined that I could live life on my own because people kept hurting me. I told myself that I didn't need anyone else. . . that I was okay by myself . . . that it was safer to live by myself because then I didn't get betrayed or disappointed. I guarded myself with emotional walls--barriers to keep everyone out, including God. But it didn't make me happy. In fact, I became suicidal. Life wasn't worth living. I was miserable.

I was made to have life and to share in the lives of other people. So were you. So here's to life and to fellowship along the journey. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May you experience life in its fullness, and may your life overflow into the lives of others.