Much is written on how to succeed but little about the vanity, in the long run, that success is never the last word. We will all die. We will all suffer that experience. We will all see others pass on.
Pain and sorrow are factors common to us all. Many ways of dealing with these have been suggested during human’s lives on earth.
What is the truth and not merely the speculation of superstition?
Can we actually know the truth and have that “truth” which sets men free? (John 8:32). Jesus said that we can.
Others say that we cannot know and that we must hinge our hope on uncertain beliefs. Is our faith anchored on the real and true? “Be very sure – be very sure – your anchor holds” wrote one hymnist. Can we be that sure?
King Solomon wrote about the vanity of success. Success is never to be taken too seriously.
Christians praying for God to bring assurance and help this side of the grave are wise to realize that the most important aspect of lives lived on earth is their witness: did we really believe?
In the crisis moments, were we as those who have gone before us, as those who made up the great “cloud of witnesses” discussed in scripture?
“Though you slay me,” wrote Job, “Yet will I love you” (Job 13:15). Job suffered the loss of everything except his life. He questioned why.
Certainly in the message of Job’s life is the fact that he had not done the wrong associated with deserving such suffering. We could say that some really evil people “Got what he deserved;” but the truth about life is that it is not deserved; it is a gift of God, that’s short here and it can be very marred by suffering.
“Opportunity to all and success to those who strive,” was a motto and ideal. The truth is that what we identify as success and what God wants as success for us can be very different.
Beyond this life, whether we became children of God while here, and whether we were a witness of His reality is the true measure of success. All goals and aspiring which ignored the shortness of life here will mean nothing and actually make our life to have been vanity.
The philosopher who claimed that reproduction only continued suffering on earth was correct of those (himself included) that had not found the One who said he was “The way, the truth, and the life.”
To be born again, to have the promised everlasting life, and to express that we do so that others desire what we have found is the key purpose of life on earth. All else, as the songwriter said, “Is sinking sand.”
Yet, the major focus of many of us has been success as providers, income earners, athletes, even honoring the names of the deceased does nothing if it does not show us the way of everlasting life.
Some suffering, a severe back injury for example, can cause fear for an uncertain future which actually always was uncertain. ‘What will I do if surgery fails to restore my abilities? How will I provide? Will I ever be pain-free again?’
How confident we were just days before! We fully expected tomorrow to be as the former today but now we realize we were a bit presumptuous.
Can thanksgiving rise within us? Yes, if we have a relationship with God for, although “Time and chance happens to us all,” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). God is good. He has not abandoned us.
My friend Mike quoted words from an old hymn today. Among its words reads: “I need no other argument: I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died; and that He died for me.”
The Christian hymns will surface again as popular in worship; suffering will see to that.
The hymns of Christian history, including the Bible, are words that have a bite to them because they’re true: God loves us. He will never forsake us. He can easily be found when our search becomes earnest. He will soon return for the willing and it will have been more than worth it all; when we see Jesus.
Until the day of our death we will continue to thank our Pastor, who fiercely opposed hateful criticism by acknowledging the LORD in everything he did. He bore this gospel into our town that God is present, touching lives, satisfying beyond expectations – trusted and sought.
Now, in his eighties, he still ministers the same message. We want to be like him.
With every challenge we might face today, we learned through our years of his preaching to turn our eyes upon Jesus who has never and never will take His off us. He will see us through.
Buddy
3 Comments
Unfortunately, we American Christians have come to think that success is only when we win or get our way in this life. Anything less is failure. When my husband was dying of cancer we prayed for his healing. People around the world were praying, too. We knew God could do it and were sure that if He did, it would be a tremendous testimony that we could share for God’s glory. On the morning before he died, I was riding in the ambulance that was taking him back to the Hospice House. As we turned a corner, I looked back at my house and thought, “Will I come home victorious or a widow?” At that time, I thought it was one or the other. To come home a widow would represent failure and loss. Some time later, however, I realized that I could be a widow AND be victorious. Perhaps God would be more glorified in how I dealt with my suffering and loss. Miracles still happen and God is able to perform them. But more often than not, we suffer because we live in a sinful, fallen world. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, however, and know that this world is not our home, He can be glorified in all of our trials.
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