This weekend my family will be having a funeral for my paternal grandfather.  He lived an incredible life and left a rich spiritual legacy.  I can only imagine how thrilling his time in heaven has been this past week – I wonder if he’s still meeting all the people who are there because of his influence!  We rejoice that he is free from a 93 year old cancer-wracked body and finally in the presence of the God he so faithfully served… but we grieve our loss.  He was a pillar in our family.

I’m sure many of you are either currently in a season of loss or have gone through loss that still pains your heart.  I thought I would repost this (from our “understanding pain and loss” series last fall) for us all to ponder.

Of all the things we face in our broken world, nothing haunts us like death. No doubt, funerals for children and friends in their prime are devastatingly difficult. But there is no good time for death. Solomon’s struggle with the issue of death is one we all can relate to.

In Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 Solomon starts out his book with the lament – vanity of vanities! All is vanity!

[Remember our definition of vanity: futility, frustration, limitation, and ultimately death which every person experiences as a result of living in a sin-cursed world.]

He then points out that generations of people come and go, but the earth remains forever. The sun keeps on rising, the wind keeps on blowing, the water keeps on flowing… and yet humanity dies and is forgotten.

There is something so awful about driving from a funeral home to a cemetery, watching regular traffic and business continuing around you. Don’t they know what happened? Why is life just carrying on? If it’s raining at the cemetery it is miserable, but somehow if it’s sunny and beautiful that doesn’t feel right, either.

There is a reason that doesn’t feel right to us: the physical creation around us is temporal – it was not intended to last forever. However, humanity was created immortal! We were supposed to outlive this earth, not the other way around! Solomon’s observation of the sun and wind and water cycle continuing on through their existence while mankind lives and dies and is forgotten is a tough one to swallow.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. And the thing is, there’s nothing we can do to change it!

In Ecclesiastes 2:12-23, Solomon points out that both the wise man and the fool will meet the same earthly fate – death awaits them both. The wise man might show much greater fruit of his labors and wise living, but he must leave it behind to someone else who might very well be foolish.

Cheery line of thinking, isn’t it?

There’s no getting around it: death is awful. Awful, awful, awful.

Consider the story of Lazarus dying and being raised from the dead by Jesus. This account in John 11 is moving to me, because it gives us a small glimpse of God’s feelings about our sufferings with the reality of death.

In verse 4 we see that Jesus purposely waited long enough for Lazarus to die before going to him. He knew that He would go and raise Him from the dead. The text carefully points out that Lazarus’ sister was Mary, the one who anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair. We are told specifically in verse 5, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.” But He let him die.

Once Jesus was approaching their village, Mary meets Him on the way and falls at His feet weeping. She says, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” The next verse is so moving to me – “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (33) Then we are told succinctly in verse 35 that “Jesus wept.”

Let that sink in. Jesus knew that Lazarus would be alive again in just a few minutes. Why was He weeping? He was troubled when He saw Mary and others who loved Lazarus mourning.

Death is the most haunting part of the curse – it feels unnatural because it is. The fact that Jesus weeps with His friends in this passage is so profound. He knows the end of the story – that not only will Lazarus be resurrected at the second coming, but that he would be alive and reunited with his family within the hour. And yet He wept. Separation and loss through death is horrible, and Jesus knows – He weeps with us.

This story is also the location of a familiar couple of verses – “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26) Jesus’ resurrection changed everything – He was the firstborn from the dead, the promise of our resurrection yet to come. (Colossians 1:18)

As Barbara Mouser states so well, God is redeeming His creation in the order in which it fell. When we rebelled, we died spiritually. The curse and all of its yuckiness reflects that spiritual death and decay in the physical realm. God has redeemed us spiritually, and one day, He will redeem His physical creation, as well. Right now we are caught in the middle.

So, even while we mourn death and disease in this life, it is a different kind of mourning from those who have no hope. Our separation, our loss, our struggle with death is temporary. One day, all will be made new. One day, death will be a distant memory. One day, there will no longer be any curse. (Revelation 21:3-5, 22:3)

We as believers in Jesus have tremendous hope. But death still hurts. It looms around us and steals away those we love. Even while we celebrate the hope that is in us, we must guard against calloused and pat answers which gloss over the real pain we all face.

Even Jesus weeps with us.

All the “understanding pain and loss” posts are indexed here.

Image from http://www.freefoto.com

After a brief hiatus, today we’re plunging back into our “how could a good God…” series.

Ready for today’s question?

Is it wrong to serve God and live righteously because it benefits us?

This is an important question to consider, as our knee-jerk reaction to suffering often boils down to, “why me, God? I’ve faithfully _______ [fill in the blank with list of righteous acts.]” We accuse God of not being fair, as though an easy life insulated from suffering is our just due for all that we have given to God.

From the fall of man, Satan has used the same lie over and over again – God is withholding something good from you. God doesn’t have your best in mind. God isn’t fair.

Now, what makes this question trickier is that often following God does benefit us. Now, I’m not talking about benefiting us from an eternal perspective – obviously knowing God has untold benefits from eternity in heaven to daily peace.

What I’m talking about is just ease of life. Fearing God and living wisely makes life easier in many ways. Solomon speaks of this fact in Ecclesiastes. [If you missed the "What does it mean to be 'wise'" post back when we were looking at Proverbs, you might want to take a minute to read this and clarify the definition of 'wisdom.']

•Wisdom helps us live with purpose, recognizing the brevity of life (Ecclesiastes 7:1-5)

•Wisdom balances and preserves (Ecclesiastes 7:10-12)

•Living wisely helps us avoid self-inflicted suffering and negative consequences (Ecclesiastes 10:8-10)

•Wise choices and investing wisely helps us deal with life’s uncertainties and unexpected set-backs (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)

These truths are easy to see, even in our modern day.

• Most believers in Jesus that I know live with a much greater and clearer sense of purpose in their lives than the unbelievers around me. Decisions are more clear, their worth is obvious to them. Life is easier to handle because they understand the bigger picture.

• Followers of Christ who have avoided self-destructive behaviors like promiscuous sex, drug and alcohol use, and breaking laws of all kinds tend to have an easier go of things… they’re not dealing with unplanned pregnancies, guilt and baggage from past sexual relationships, addictions and the health problems that go with them, jail time… even speeding tickets. Life typically is easier when we live wisely and avoid self-inflicted pain.

Obviously these are just a few of the myriad of examples that we could cite for how wise living makes life easier. It’s common sense. That’s really what wisdom is – it’s common sense!

Here’s the rub…

Sometimes, the people who follow God with all their hearts, who obey their authorities, who make the wisest of decisions… sometimes these people suffer immense pain in this world. Here are some cases that I personally have known of:

• The Christian couple who were virgins on their wedding day and long for a child deals with numerous miscarriages, infertility, or the agony of the death of their young child.

• Godly people who have been excellent stewards of their bodies and made wise decisions suffer and die of lung cancers that are extremely rare outside of life-long smokers.

• A hard-working godly man who loves his family and does everything he can to wisely support them financially loses his health from accident or debilitating disease, and the resulting loss of income and mounting medical bills on top of his ailing health becomes more than the family can bear.

And our hearts cry out… God, this isn’t fair!

To be continued tomorrow, when we will look more closely at the life of suffering, righteous man by the name of Job.

All the posts in this series are indexed here. 

Image from freefoto.com

As we’ve been discussing in our “How Could a Good God…” series, our world is truly, dreadfully broken. While I think that it is imperative that we be honest and take a sincere look at the brokenness and pain that surround us, God doesn’t intend for us to be walking around like spiritual Eeyores!

One of the many things I love about Ecclesiastes is that Solomon deals honestly and openly with the broken state of our world, and yet he urges his readers to enjoy the good life God has given us. Throughout the book, there are some repeating phrases that you should notice. He often will say, “then I looked/ then I turned my thoughts…” and he will notice all the yuck of life under the curse in a sin-filled world. He doesn’t hide from it, he doesn’t deny it, he doesn’t pretend like everything is A-ok. But then he will shift and say, “there is nothing better…” and will admonish his readers to enjoy the small graces of life that God surrounds us with.

If you are approaching Thanksgiving with a heavy heart, consider these beautiful gifts of God’s grace that Solomon wisely instructs us to be grateful for:

•There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? (Ecc. 2:24-25)

•I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor–it is the gift of God. (Ecc. 3:12-13)

•Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. (Ecc. 4:9-12)

•Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart. (Ecc. 5:18-20)

I don’t know what your life circumstances are right now. I don’t know if you’re dealing with unemployment, death of loved ones, chronic and debilitating illness, persecution, or deep wounds from sin and injustice committed against you or those you love. Life is hard. You don’t have to pretend that it’s not.

However, true gratitude is not limited to when life is easy and beautiful and good. True gratitude comes from a deep-seated trust in God as sovereign, loving, and good – even when we don’t understand how our life is unfolding. That deep trust in His goodness allows us to recognize the good gifts that He places around us each and every day and respond to Him with thankful hearts.

• I am thankful for God’s lavish and unnecessary gifts to us that make life so sweet. I am thankful that we can smell the pungent odor of burning firewood, the sweet aroma of cranberries cooking on the stove, the smells of fall that surround us. I am thankful that we can taste – why did God make food so enjoyable to us? He made food much more than a functional to keep us alive – He made it full of smell, taste, color, texture… and gave us the senses to take it in. I am thankful that fall leaves turn a gorgeous array of colors instead of instantly turning brown and falling off the trees. God is extravagant with His good gifts – even in a fallen and broken world.

• I am thankful that God has given me meaningful work to do in my life. I am thankful that we have so many toys and clothes and so much food that it is difficult to keep everything orderly and organized. I am thankful that there are so many good avenues to minister inside and outside of my home that it is difficult to keep my priorities straight. I am thankful that my husband has work to do that challenges and engages him, even when it is stressful and draining.

• I am thankful to be married to my best friend. I am thankful that although we are walking through a valley, we are walking through it together. I am thankful for friends who listen to me and laugh with me and cry with me. I am thankful for a church family that I love and who loves us in return. I am thankful that we are far from alone. I am thankful that even when I feel alone and feel that no one understands, that God sees. God understands. He has not abandoned us – ever.

• I am thankful for the many little things that God fills my life with that I enjoy. I am thankful for hot coffee in the morning, and that even though our coffee pot is broken that I can make it with boiling water. :) I am thankful for a warm and cozy bed. I am thankful for my children’s happy chatter, even when I feel like my ears are tired of listening!! I am thankful for a beautiful and safe home that I can make warm and welcoming for those I love. I am thankful for the endless opportunities to sew, cook, craft, and produce beauty around me. I am thankful that I can read, that I own many copies of God’s Word that I am free to study and teach from, that I can write and that some are even kind enough to read what I have written. :)

Life is hard. God is good.

True gratitude is not based on the denial of the difficulties of life. True gratitude will whither away if I choose to morosely look only at those difficulties. True gratitude comes from honestly acknowledging the reality of our broken world, while finding in the midst of pain that God is good and His small graces surround us each day.

What are you grateful for today?

Give thanks to Him and praise His name – for the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5


All the posts in this series are indexed here.


Image from freefoto.com

Thinking back through our “How Could a Good God…” series thus far, we talked about the vanity and futility of life in a world corrupted by sin and suffering under God’s judgments of the curse. This one event is the root cause of our struggle with death, and the rampant sin and injustice which fills our lives on this earth.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon takes us through an honest appraisal of his own attempts to create meaning in this world wracked with futility under the curse.

•First he tackles the problem of life in this world by trying to increase his wisdom (which was already great) in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18.

His conclusion – “What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted… I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.” (1:15, 17b-18)

Attempt one: fail. In fact, increased wisdom brought more pain.

•Next he tries to ignore the futility by immersing himself in pleasure in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11.

His conclusion – “…behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.” (2:11)

Attempt two: fail.

•He continues to attempt to escape the futility of life in a sin-cursed world and create meaning.

He attempts to use work, power, wealth, and self-righteousness – all yield the same result:

“This too is futility.“

Our world is irreparably (from our perspective) broken. No matter how wise we are, no matter how many pleasures we pursue, no matter how hard we work, no matter how powerful we are, no matter how wealthy we become, no matter how self-righteous we may be… we are still sinful people stuck in a sinful and broken world.

We cannot create lasting meaning in this life apart from Him.

Praise the Lord, through Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf we can find meaning!

But you know what? Even as a follower of Jesus, life is still immensely difficult and frustrating. People I love get sick and die. Sin and injustice surround me and at times threaten to overwhelm me. My sinful human nature fights against my redeemed spirit, and like Paul, I find that the good I want to do I do not do, and what I do not want to do, I do!

We are caught between two worlds.

Those of us who follow Christ have been redeemed spiritually, but the physical world is still broken and groaning under the curse. [See Romans 8:22-23]

God is redeeming His creation in the order in which it fell.

Remember, spiritual rebellion in the garden happened first and the physical curse mirrored it. As redeemed believers in Jesus, we are redeemed humans living in a world that is still cursed and broken. Our best efforts, our best living, making all the right choices – nothing will change the fact that our world is still broken. Life is often unfair. Death still looms. But there is hope.

God WILL redeem the rest of His creation – in His time.

When struggling with the realities of life in a broken world, nothing soothes my heart like remembering the end of the story! Take a minute to read Revelation 21:1-6 and 22:1-5.

Revelation 21:3-4
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Revelation 22:3-4
There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

One day, all this broken futility will be washed away.

One day, death will no longer loom about us. Pain will be a distant memory. Our work will be productive, meaningful, and fulfilling. We will see Him, we will serve Him, life will be restored to what should have been.

One day we will no longer be caught between two worlds.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. And until that day…

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:1-4

All the posts in this series are indexed here.



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