The Real Meaning of Life

Got faith? Sorry, just a little twist on the ad “Got Milk?” But seriously, do you have faith. In our last study, we read where the King of Assyria sent a messenger to try to undermine the people of Israel, telling them that they needed to surrender because there was no way that King Hezekiah and his army could defeat Assyria. And what does everyone do, Hezekiah’s scribes, messengers, and even Hezekiah himself?

Does this sound familiar? Remember when the Philistines and the giant Goliath came up against Israel, and King Saul and his army were afraid to fight. Then along comes this very young man named David, who very likely had the faith of a mustard seed, and without hesitation, took on Goliath himself, alone. Why did he do that? Because he had faith that his God, our God, would protect him and show him victory.

So we are in the same situation. Why didn’t King Hezekiah jump up when he heard his messengers related the story, pound his chest, and shout, “The Lord God of Abraham is with us! We WILL be victorious!” But instead, they have doubts.

Have you ever faced a problem in your life that brings you down? You are perplexed, perhaps even frightened and worried what the outcome will bring? I have and still do. One of my problems is that as a former firefighter, it was ingrained in me to be alert for bad things. I never rolled up once on a fire and began looking for what was going good, I was looking at what was going bad; are there nearby structures that can ignite from this fire, are there people trapped inside, is there something inside the house or garage like a propane tank that is going to explode? As a result, my tendency is to be negative, to assume the worst in everything. And just another tidbit that has no bearing on this message, it is also one of the causes of higher divorce rates among first responders. It is just our tendency to overlook the good things and to focus on the bad.

But I’m working on having more faith. I’m trying, that when I’m confronted with a problem, to have faith that everything will turn out okay because God is on my side. It’s hard, and I have to work at it, but I’m trying. A part of the problem, I think, is when we lack faith, it is because we are not as close to God as we should be. We should have such a close and personal relationship with God that there is not one iota of doubt in our minds that things will work out for the best. We should have the faith of David. But all too often, we have the faith of Hezekiah.

Again I say, God loves us and wants only the best for us. But He can only help us if we turn to Him and stay close to Him. If we run with the devil, God can’t protect us. So stay close to God so when confronted with something bad, we’ll have the faith to know that He has our back.

“Father. We pray that we stay in the front yard, behind the gate, so we can remain in your protection. But if we are tempted to open the gate and leave your yard, I pray that you convict us, like a mother coming to the front door and warning us “Don’t touch that gate!” Amen.