What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?

Job 3:23 MSG – YouVersion.com: Online Bible.

And there’s the question. “What is the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?” This is what Job asks in the third chapter, after losing pretty much everything he had.

Though I’ve heard the story many times, I’m eager to read through, in context, the rest of this book on faith and why bad things happen to good people. In fairness, though, bad things happen to everyone, both good and bad. I think it’s easier for us to feel ok about when something bad happens to a murderer, or a rapist or someone who is clearly “deserving” of the worst fate. And in conjunction with that thought, it’s definitely hard to believe that a good God would allow such tragedy to befall someone like Job, who by all accounts is God’s number one, best man. But I wonder, why do we also not question the good that happens to those of us who consider ourselves good? Why aren’t we questioning the point of life when all is going perfectly well for us? Should we be?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and I plan to post more over the coming days as I continue to read through the book of Job. I’ve committed to read the Bible through, this year. I’ve never done it, I’m ashamed to say, and as I get older, and I realize that life doesn’t get any easier, I think a year of renewal and dedication to meditating on God’s word will do me some good. My prayer is for God to use his word to speak to my soul and mold my mind and spirit into who He wants me to be.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:2 MSG – YouVersion.com: Online Bible

If you’ve never read the Bible, much less, read it in it’s entirety, I invite you to join me this year in a quest for truth and transformation. Please comment, question, agree or disagree. I welcome all discussion. I’m following a plan that lays out the reading in chronological order. I also joined the group on YouVersion.com that is reading this chronological plan. You can, too, by following the steps here.

Matt Chandler is a 35 year old husband, father and pastor of The Village Church in a Dallas, Texas suburb. On Thanksgiving, Matt had a seizure in his home and woke up in the hospital. Doctor’s discovered the source of the seizure was a tumor in his brain. He had surgery this past weekend and this is the last message he left for his church.

We taped this video of Matt a few days before his surgery and aired it this weekend at our worship services. We pray your heart is challenged and encouraged by it. Thank you for your continued prayers.

via Video from Matt | The Village Church : From Our Pastors.

As I watched the video and listened to him talk about his current situation, I was reminded of my father and the kidney cancer that took his life just over five years ago. My father taught me much about how to live. But he taught me just as much, if not more, about how to face adversity, even if that means death. After his passing, I remember hearing from many of the doctors and nurses just how special they thought my dad was and just how much they were impacted by his attitude of joy in all things. I can’t say for sure, but I believe they were also deeply touched by his faith. Faith not only in healing, but faith in a purpose and a plan bigger than any of us. Faith that, regardless of what happened, God was in control and God would get the glory. Even if that meant that the healing came, not in life, but in death.

I pray for healing for Matt and I pray for peace and comfort for his family and friends. I pray that God uses Matt and his life, his faith, to bring honor and glory to him. I pray that Matt’s courage can be an enCOURAGEment to all of us. May God’s grace be sufficient for us all. May His kindness and mercy last forever.

As Matt asked, I also ask, “What are you afraid of?”

My wife often asks me that question, “Just what is it, exactly, that you do?” I think, in her defense, for the longest time I wasn’t even sure “what I do”. I have determined, over the years, that there are really only several things that really matter and are worth doing. First, love God with all my heart, soul, mind and body. Next, love and treat others the way I want to be loved and treated. Third, be the best husband and father I can be to the most incredible wife and kids a man could have. I think a valid argument could be made that those are all fairly equal as far as importance goes. I mean really, if I keep those things as my priorities in life, how can I go wrong? So, what I do is try to live out each of those three things. That’s it. Yeah, I fail as much as anyone, maybe more. But it’s much harder to lose sight of what’s important and it’s much easier to get back up when you fall when you put the important things first.

As far as “what I do” to make money and pay bills and support my family, well, that’s probably what my wife is referring to when she asks that question. And to answer that, I would say this: I consult with clients and help them develop and implement strategies that maximize the effectiveness of their web presence by integrating social networking with their web site, their hub. We also provide IT consulting, service and support for customers using Apple Macintosh computers. I do all this with a business in which I am a co-owner, Digital Design Solutions. You can check us out online at Digital Design Solutions.