To the atheist, existence is random. You’re here by chance. Your life has no ultimate meaning. There are many who like that idea, because it means they have no responsibility. If there’s no higher authority to tell you what is right and wrong, and who might hold you to account for what you do, then you can make up your own rules and live your life the way you want.
Good things might happen to you, or bad things. They’re all a result of random processes. If you lose your job, or your home is wrecked by a storm, or you contract incurable cancer—there’s no reason for it, you’re just unlucky. The world may be wiped out at any moment by a meteor strike or a nuclear conflagration—it’s a risk you try not to think about.
Made For a Purpose
To the Christian, it’s different. A basic Bible principle is that existence has meaning.
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11).
God created the earth for a purpose—that it might be filled with His glory in His Kingdom (Habakkuk 2:14). He is actively involved in world affairs, as evidenced by the history of the nation of Israel which is the focus of much of the Bible. We can recognise the many prophecies which have been fulfilled and are still being fulfilled—for instance concerning the regathering of the Jews to their ancestral land (Ezekiel 36–37). When we witness bewildering political events, we can be assured that they are not accidental. Everything that happens is under God’s control as He steers the world towards its destiny:
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men (Daniel 4:17).
And it’s not just the lofty matters of national importance that God is concerned with. He is a Father, Who is passionately and intimately concerned with individuals. As Jesus Christ said, ‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’ (Luke 12:32).
Good things and bad things happen to all of us. But the follower of Christ is assured that they are not random, they are being overseen and they are for our benefit:
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Think about that. God gives blessings: ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly’ (Psalm 84:11). He also allows difficulties and hardship: ‘Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:5–6). Just as He has a purpose with the earth, to fill it with His glory in the Kingdom, so He will work with us (if we’ll let Him), to make us fit to be there.
Living Stones
Among the many pictures the Bible uses of God’s work with His people, is the picture of a builder at work on constructing a temple:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19–22).
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5).
Stones come from the quarry rough and unshaped, and unfit for use as building components. They need to be cut to size, and sawn smooth so they sit together and are stable. Different stones will be shaped differently, according to their position and function in the building. Some stones will require more hammering and cutting than others.
For the follower of Christ, life is a meaningful process. God is working with us and on us, teaching and guiding us, knocking off our rough edges. He has the end in view, even though it may be difficult for us to see that end, especially during the difficult times. But even in life’s hardships, we have the assurance that if we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us:
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38–39).
Just one more reason why life is so much better when you have faith.