One of the hardest challenges we face as human beings on this earth is to find a reason to be. Purpose seems to be the one thing that you absolutely need to have in order to garnish any sense of worth. Most people have spent much time searching for it but struggle to find it. Sure, people do lots of things on purpose for lots of different reasons, but to tie them together for a bigger more important reason outside of there own need seems to be less popular than our Presidential candidates.

The Search

The search for purpose in life differs depending on your worldview and sometimes it doesn’t even seem to be necessary.  If you believe that ‘what is real’ is limited only to what is “natural”, any purpose for your own life is limited to a finite perspective that seems to lead to the same ending no matter how you slice it. Life is short and then you die.

You may find a temporary purpose but in the end it all seems like a vacation without a destination.  Being part of a story without an author leads people to become authors without a story.

There are too many people in our world without a story.  We position ourselves as authors of our own life but fail to find a story worth telling.  It’s seems so easy to come to the conclusion that there is no real lasting hope in our world, that we can only seek temporary satisfaction while we are here.

“Being part of a story without an author, leads people to become authors without a story.”

The book of Ecclesiastes sums this up pretty well.  The following was written by a man that came to the same conclusion.  Solomon takes a long hard look at what the world looks like “under the sun” (apart from a Creator).  He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes as a journal of his journey to find purpose.

Ecc 1:1-4 “The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?  Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.  1:14 “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

It’s not just Solomon the author of the book of Ecclesiastes that came to the conclusion that apart from a Creator “life is meaningless”.   In fact, what other conclusion can you possibly come up with?!  It’s no wonder we have so many people walking around with nothing to say, noting to believe in and no reason to be.

Broken Dreams

So, what if I bought my daughter a Birthday present, hid it in the shed outside, then told her she had to find it if she wanted it, but also told her it is somewhere in the house and she would not need to look outside?  She would begin her search with much excitement and her anticipation would grow as her expectation of receiving something nice that her father has personally handpicked just for her.  I can imagine her looking all around the house, behind furniture, under beds, closets, and eventually in the cupboards and in the bathroom.  Ultimately her excitement would turn to frustration, and then later on she would begin to get upset and give up.  She would surely conclude that there is no present and it was all a hoax and she was the butt of a horrible joke.  This undoubtedly would do some damage to her perspective.  It is not that there is an absence of a gift, it is that there is a limit to the range she is searching.

I think sometimes people can feel this same way about life.  Like someone told them that there is hope for love, joy and happiness but failed to tell them where to find it. If we just follow the crowd, they will surely lead us to the jackpot.  After years of looking in the wrong places, following the wrong advice they eventually came to the same conclusion as Solomon, “life is meaningless”.

The Bigger Picture

Maybe we need to stop limiting our perspective to just what is “under the sun”.  Maybe someone should tell my daughter that her gift may be outside of the house.  Could it be that our reason to be is there after all but we have allowed others to convince us that our world is much smaller and darker than it really is?  What if the picture that has been painted for us isn’t wide enough or tall enough or bright enough to tell the whole story as it really is?

Lots of people spend their whole lives stuck in a box never to find out that the box isn’t really locked.  They just didn’t believe there was anything outside the box or believed it was locked.

“What if the picture that has been painted for us isn’t wide enough or tall enough or bright enough to tell the whole story as it really is?”

I will tell you there is a reason to be, but it’s not “under the sun”, however when you find it, it will change how you see and experience everything “under the sun”.

It’s Right under Your Nose

If you have yet to find your reason to be, I encourage you to look one more place.  Open your Bible, read it and find out if it is true. Don’t trust me or anyone else, find out for yourself.  Don’t worry; you don’t need to believe it to read it.  That will take care of itself, if it’s true.

You will begin to find your reason to be.  Don’t believe me?  try it, I dare you!  If you don’t currently have a reason to be, you have nothing to lose.  What’s the worst that can happen? You may chase a little wind, but then, chances are you may be already doing that. Been there, done that!

I would love to talk with anyone who wants to discuss or know more about this, shoot me an email at joelsmith123@yahoo.com