Life's Big Questions

What do I do when I don’t have space for life’s big questions? Life is hard; I am just trying to get one foot in front of the other. I don’t have time to think about the church's future, bioethics, or the current myriad of crises. I am just trying to survive.

Compassion fatigue is real. We can’t care about everything. The steady stream of disastrous news and fear is exhausting in itself. This double-down happens when we have all of our own things going on and are plagued by our lives' inevitable ups and downs. It hurts even more when we see people prospering while spitting in the face of God. 

We think, “God, I’m doing all the right things; why is this happening to me and not them?”

I think of the words of Psalm 73:

For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have an easy time until they die,
And their bodies are well fed.

They are not in trouble like others;
They are not afflicted like most people.

Therefore, pride is their necklace,
And violence covers them like a garment.

Their eyes bulge out from fatness;
The imaginations of their hearts run wild.

They mock, and they speak maliciously;
They arrogantly threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against heaven,
And their tongues strut across the earth.

Therefore his people turn to them
And drink in their overflowing words.

The wicked say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High know everything?”

Look at them—the wicked!
They are always at ease,
And they increase their wealth…

Did I purify my heart

and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?

For I am afflicted all day long

and punished every morning…..

Who do I have in heaven but you?

And I desire nothing on earth but you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart,

my portion forever.

Those far from you will certainly perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, God’s presence is my good.

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

so I can tell about all you do.

You can feel the pain in the voice of the Psalmist. Wondering how and why the wicked can prosper so easily. It reminds me of Jim McCormack. He is the brother of Kathie Durst. Kathie Durst was allegedly murdered by her billionaire husband, real estate magnate Robert Durst. 

He spent decades trying to solve the case of his sister’s murder. Jim is featured prominently in the documentary The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert Durst. In it, he says, “I have faith, but faith doesn’t always deliver justice.”

This is the world we live in. We hope things will be made right, but decades of pain and suffering can lead us to believe otherwise. When it all feels hopeless, it can be challenging to trust what we know to be true about God: he is for our good.

Don’t Check Out

While we may need more space for the big questions, we cannot check out of life. We are still called to be salt and light even amid the pain. The enemy's temptation is to get us to turn inward when experiencing hard times. He tries to convince us that no one else understands and that we are in this life alone.

When the nights are darkest, no one would blame us for retreating. It’s expected. And yet, I think God wants something more.

I think of Paul writing letters to the churches in Philippi, Ephesus, and Colassae while imprisoned—Epaphras, who was sick to death but still concerned for the Philippians. The Christians of the early Church cared for the vulnerable in society while suffering from intense persecution. 

I believe that, on some level, we communicate something about our faith and belief in God when we can only love and serve others when things are good. 

Don’t mishear me. There will be times when there is no room in our heads and hearts for anything else. But we don’t get to stay there. One of our greatest apologetics is how we continue to show up. 

It is good for others, but it is also good for us. Research shows that there’s positive brain chemistry associated with altruism, that is, doing good for others. We, however, do not do it for the vibes; we love because, as John said, He first loved us. 

Our lives are an outpouring of what has happened to us. Our circumstances don’t change that. 

I’m not telling you to ignore your problems—Lord knows I don’t ignore mine—the trials of life are very real. 

My encouragement here is not to get so lost in them that you lose sight of all God has for you, including the love and service of others. 

God hears you and sees you and has compassion on you. That is good news.