NORTHSHORE CHURCH OF CHRIST

Jannet and Carrie live next door to one another. Both have husbands and three children, and they both enjoy roughly the same level of income.

Jannet wonders why her life is so hard. She wishes she had more help with washing dishes and clothes. She wonders why her husband doesn’t bring flowers more often and why he gets to be the one who goes to work every day, leaving her to the drudgery of home life. She scrolls through Facebook and looks with envy on the picture-perfect lives of friends and neighbors.

Carrie wonders why she is so blessed. When she does the dishes, she thanks God for the food which dirtied them and the fellowship her family enjoyed while eating together. She washes her kids’ clothes looking forward to full closets and being ready for the week. When her husband leaves the house, she is grateful for a man who takes care of his family. She enjoys giving.

From the outside, Jannet and Carrie are physically blessed in almost identical ways, but their attitudes are almost opposite. One sees her job as drudgery and remains discontent with the things in her life, always wishing for something different, something more. The other loves her life, enjoys her family, and sees her work in the home not as endless toil but as a gift and an honor.

The difference between these two women is not one of circumstance but rather one of perspective. Many people fall on both sides of this attitude spectrum. What makes the difference?

Are happy people happy because of their pleasant circumstances? Miserable people think so. They see everyone else’s life through rose colored glasses while seeing their own life through gray-tinted spectacles. They become like Job’s accuser, saying things like, “He is only jolly because things always go well for him.”

But happy people are disposed to joy often despite their circumstances. They understand that life on this earth (“under the sun” as Solomon wrote) is not and never will be perfect. Evil comes upon the righteous and the wicked alike. Blessings come from the Lord. The secret to a contented life is to thank God for all things and to never quit thanking Him. Endure the bad, and enjoy the good, knowing that God is with you through all of it. This is the way to true joy.

When you find yourself falling to depression, feeling miserable and discontent, ask yourself whether you have thanked God recently for His gifts. It’s probably time to count your many blessings and remind yourself all that God has done for you. We have so many reasons to be thankful!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5.16–18)

A startling yet lovely picture of fellowship in the Garden of Eden is when we read, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3.8). It’s said matter-of-factly, like this was normal for Adam and Eve to walk with God in the garden He had given them. That is an astounding thought to me. This was God’s plan—to have this kind of fellowship with His creatures.

When Adam and Eve broke the covenant and ate the fruit, they broke fellowship with their Creator, affecting themselves but also all the rest of us, since Adam is the head of the human race. Tragically, no one else got to walk with God in the garden.

However, others did walk with God.

The first mentioned was Enoch: “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Gen. 5.22-24). Somehow, God disappeared Enoch from the earth; Enoch did not die the way the rest of us do, and it was because of his close relationship with God. He knew God and walked with God in an intimate way that God loved.

The second mentioned was Noah: “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6.9). In the middle of an out-of-control world in which “was corrupt in God’s sight, and was filled with violence” (Gen. 6.11), Noah stood out in his righteousness before the Lord. He’s another who walked intimately with God, and God saved him and his family in a special way, blessing him and the rest of mankind.

God found Abram many years later and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless, that I may make My covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly” (Gen. 17.1). If you want to be in relationship with God, He calls you to walk with Him.

In the wilderness, God gave Israel manna to eat, saying, “that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not” (Exod. 16.4).

Walking with God, walking before God, walking in God’s law—all of these mean living with Him and for Him. Your walk is your way of life. It is how you go about your daily business.

Dear Christian, do you remember, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (Eph. 2.1–2)? You were once disobedient to your Creator. Your way of life was characterized by disobedience. You used to walk “as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Eph. 4.17–19). That’s not a pretty picture!

But God called you out of that dead walk and recreated you in Jesus Christ. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2.10). Paul urges Christians now “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4.1–3). He calls us to “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5.1), to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5.8), and to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5.15).

How are you walking? Are you in step with the Creator? Do you have an intimate fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ? This is the manner of life to which you have been called!

Among David’s three chief mighty men stood Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the Israelites fled from the Philistines. But Shammah took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory. (2 Samuel 23.11–12).

When I travel from one big city to another, I’m struck by the sheer numbers of individuals and families. They are everywhere! And each one has a lifetime of stories and struggles, dreads and dreams, loves and losses. It’s mind-boggling for a finite human like me. I cannot comprehend!

God keeps track of all these humans, some of whom perform mighty deeds, some of whom turn darkly evil, some of whom He converts and saves. He knows them all by name.

I find comfort in knowing it’s not my job to keep track of everyone in the world. In fact, even as a shepherd of the church here in Mandeville, LA, it’s not my job to keep track of everyone in my congregation! I try, but it’s impossible. On Sundays I walk my neighborhood and pray for my congregation by name, and it’s always overwhelming to think of every person with his or her troubles and struggles, because we all have them, and God has not equipped me psychologically, emotionally, or physically to bear the burdens of everyone around me.

Praise God, He does!

However, God has equipped me to fight in my own plot of land. I cannot fight in every plot of land, but I can take my stand in the midst of my own plot and defend it. I can fight beside and for the people to my left and right, front and rear. This is all God has called me to do.

On the one hand, God has called me to fight in His army, and to fight hard. On the other hand, he only expects me to fight the enemies immediately around me. If I make this my focus, I will do well.

If I don’t take up the sword in my own home, I lose. If I don’t engage the enemy in my workplace, I lose. If I don’t fight the spiritual forces of darkness in my own town, I lose. Some people, such as emperors, governors, presidents, etc., can affect the world stage in some ways. But most of us are simply given a plot of land to defend.

There is plenty of fighting to do on my plot of land.

And if I fight hard for Him, I could still be numbered among God’s mighty men.

It seems like life is getting more and more hectic. This world is rushing madly about, busy with things and stuff. 

On the one hand, it's good to be busy. The devil plays around with our leisure time. But on the other hand, the devil also enjoys watching us waste our time and distracting us from things that matter the most.

Praise the super-successful business mogul. Clap for the sports hero. Sigh for the girl singing on the X-Factor.

Shuttle the kids off to school to learn how to write, read, build, and discover. Rush them to band practice, football practice, their first job in the hamburger joint. It's not enough that they get by in life; we want them to thrive, excel, become truly great, leave their mark. So we push.

Why do we push them? Why do we push ourselves? Why do we rush about attempting to achieve great things?

Solomon did exactly this. He holds the world record in the "super-successful" category because he had virtually unlimited resources and a drive to discover, build, and thrive. Solomon diligently searched for thrills, meaning, and happiness—but when he paused to reflect, he realized he had just been grasping at the wind. Frantically, he tried everything he could think of, but nothing truly satisfied. "Vanity," he penned in his journal. "Emptiness. Striving after the wind." 

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1.14)

And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. (1.17)

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” (2.1-2)

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun. (2.11)

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. (2.17)

Sad man! Because he was wise, he reflected and meditated on his life journey. Many of us don't pause in the hustle and bustle of our days and weeks—we just spin our wheels and never look back. But Solomon looked back, searching for the reason why he had spent his energies and time the way he had. When all was said and done, after he had philosophized for twelve tough chapters, Solomon found his conclusion. Perhaps some would have committed suicide by the time they had meditated on the realities of life the way Solomon did—but Solomon found an anchor, a reason for living:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil. (12.13-14)

The answer to life is not in discovering your unique passion, becoming top dog in your company, or hoarding boatloads of cash. No, the secret to life's meaning lies in something quite outside this world! Man's duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. If this is our aim, everything we do in life suddenly becomes pregnant with meaning, from the words we use with our families to the business decisions we make at the office. Suddenly every word, thought, and action holds eternal significance because we realize a judgment day is coming in which God will reveal every secret thing! We ought to live in light of eternity, in light of judgment, in light of God. Since He exists and He watches and He commands, we should listen and obey and conform to His way. Imagine that—the creature obeying his Creator. What a concept.

Why rush about? Why achieve things? Why push ourselves? If it's not for God, there is no good reason to do any of it. It is vanity, a grasping after the wind, and it will all disappear in the twinkling of an eye. All this earth stuff will grow old, rust, rot, and perish. So will our bodies. But WITH God there is no such thing as vanity or emptiness! All has meaning. Praise Him!

Many homes operate from a basis of fear and performance, focusing on right knowledge and right behavior. If that's all we want from our kids (right knowledge and right behavior), perhaps a fear-based or performance-based system is what the doctor ordered.

Often I have discovered the most important thing to me when my kids are with me in public is that they behave correctly—that's my bottom line—because if they don't they might display what a horrible job I'm doing as a parent. If no one acts up in a major way, I chalk it up to success.

But a child can easily perform the right way while his heart remains bound by darkness.

When we think about it, don't we really want kids who desire to obey, who love us, and who demonstrates an inner strength of character which will govern them even as they leave the constant influence of our home's rules? There's the rub, as Shakespeare might say.

How does God parent? How does God deal with us, His sons and daughters? Does He not lead us with copious amounts of grace?

John 1.14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and His glory was "full of grace and truth." Three verses later John compared Moses with Jesus: "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jesus did not only embody truth but also grace. When we speak to one another, Paul instructs us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4.14).

Does that sound like your home? Are you parenting from an attitude of grace and love? Introspectively, I look back and realize I often have not been. Many times I have spoken harshly with my children because they were not following my laws to the standard I'd like. The clothes they hang up in the closets are wonky. They don't fold my socks and...ahem...other things correctly before stuffing them in my drawer. They don't scrape the dishes well enough before putting them in the dishwasher, so we sometimes have to re-wash. They daydream when they're supposed to be doing their school work, and it takes SO MUCH LONGER than it should! They don't answer me back respectfully enough.

I'm not sure I speak the truth in love often enough. I'm not sure my speech is always "what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Eph. 4.29).

As I think of my failings as a parent, I think about how God deals with me IN my failings. Does He speak harshly to me? Does He make my life miserable? Does He constantly remind me I'm a failure, or does He constantly encourage me to do better, assuring me that He still loves me, accepts me, and will not forsake me? The latter is the truth. If God deals with me with such grace, should I not then fill my own home with grace?

¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.