Day 2557 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV
Today marks 7 years of sharing these posts. I never imagined that I would manage to keep it going this long. But I can't begin to describe how thankful I am to be on this daily journey through God's word. I've learned more than I ever thought I needed to learn. I've grown in ways that I didn't realize I needed to grow. And I've found this relentless desire to learn more, to grow more, and to do whatever I can to help encourage, inspire, and improve the world around us.
As I've learned and found myself thinking more and more about God's word and the scope of our faith, this verse has become one that resonates more loudly with each passing day and each new post. You've probably noticed that these posts usually tend to point out something wrong in our world. I don't consider myself a negative person by any means. In fact, I like to think I'm quite the opposite. I try to see the best in life, hope for the best to come, and not let the heavier bits weigh me down.
But the fact of the matter is that we're living in a world with a whole lot of problems, and sadly, a whole lot of influence. The ways of this world have impacted each of us in different ways, but they have impacted us nonetheless. We've all found ourselves traveling paths we had no business taking. We've picked up habits that bring us nothing but shame and regret. We've learned many lessons from a broken world that have only pulled us away from the joy of God's path.
That's why this verse hits me so personally. I look around and see just how far this place has gone in the wrong direction. I see all this hurting, and anger, and hatred, and so many other hurtful and unfortunate things constantly swirling around us. I see so many people who just look miserable. And so I can't help but feel this deep need to keep sharing the hope and help found in God's word. I can't help but realize just how badly His truth is needed in this place.
So many people are looking for hope and peace and meaning, but they're looking in the wrong places. They're looking in popularity. They're looking in material possessions. They're trying to find joy in temporal things that only hold empty promises and fade quicker than they come. But God's word has this eternal power that doesn't fade. It doesn't diminish. It doesn't leave us wanting more. It truly is everything we need. It is the bread that we've been desperate to find.
The more I've studied God's word to make sure I'm doing the best I can to share it correctly, the more I realize just how broken our world really is. And the grief and sorrow that I feel watching the world around me continue to drag people in the wrong direction only grows more intense. It doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to become lost in this world. We don't have to follow the herd toward an impending disaster with little to no joyful or uplifting things along the way.
The more we learn, the more we realize just how much more we have to learn. The more we grow, the more we understand just how far we've fallen. The more we see the hurting around us, the more we feel this need to help. The more we come to grasp the hope and joy in God's word, the more we understand just how far we have to go in this place to get back to anything close to good.
That's why we can't stop fighting. That's why I'll never stop trying. That's why 7 years is only the beginning. I know that mistakes have been made. I've gotten things wrong. I've shared things that we're taken out of context. And I know that I've made far too many of these posts far too much about me and my opinions. But I'm learning. We're all learning. We're all growing. And thankfully, we have the best resource we could ever hope to find.
Make no mistake, the further we go along this road the harder it'll become. We're going to lose more things that we thought we had to have. We're going to discover new and exciting ways in which we've gotten many things all wrong. We're going to have to find this humble courage to face our fears, overcome our weaknesses, and yes, even battle our personal secrets and demons that have crept their way into our hearts. But the pains that come with growing are proof that we are in fact growing. And that’s why we can't turn and run when it gets hard.
Grief and sorrow are parts of this process. It hurts to realize how wrong we’ve been. It’s painful to discover the many mistakes we’ve made. It’s not enjoyable to let go of things and accept that we have to start over and learn a different way. But as much as grief and sorrow may hurt at times, they push us forward. They encourage us to try harder. They help us see just how much it all means to us and how important this journey truly is to undertake. It couldn't be more important because growing toward God is the only way to find the hope and peace that only He can provide.
And if that means walking away from things, bluntly sharing the truth, and never pulling any punches then so be it. If it brings this weight of responsibility to do what’s right in a world that does everything but, then that’s the burden we’ll bear. The whole point is to make each of us better. And the only way to do that is to be honest and learn to humbly let God lead the way.
No matter the pain or the price, it's more than worth it!
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