The Problem of Life

My life has been wonderful the past few months. Three great conferences and a wedding, topped off by a vacation in Guatemala for a week. Now I lie in bed at night and wander what is next. My mind wanders through the things I need to get done. Got to get some new wall joist nailed in and mount a new window in that rotten wall I tore out today. That way I can finish putting up the drywall in the room and then work on the flooring. Also need to cut and nail up new siding boards on the outside and finish painting the exterior of the house. I'd really rather just take a break from the house for a while and finish mowing the cow pasture. Need to clear the area for a new fence Sam wants to build and start setting some posts in the ground so we can run the wire. I really should get a new shed built with the extra lumber so we can move out some of the equipment that is parked under the wood shed right now and get it clear for the firewood this fall. I'm not getting payed for any of this, so I must make time in between to work for the farmer down the road who has been paying me so that I will be saving some money over the summer. Got to settle on what I am going to do for college this fall since application deadlines are coming up. And on and on is goes until I am feeling overwhelmed and depressed by it all.

I wake in the morning, reluctant to drag myself out of bed and tackle these endless jobs. I guess this is life and folks say you just got to suck it up and keep pushing on. If this is life, I will pass and have none of it. "For what does a man get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors with under the sun? For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest." (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)

It is at times like this, when I lose sight of the big picture, that the troubles of life creep in and steal my joy. I have to be drawn back and given the ability to see it in the light of eternity and a God that is bigger than it all. That makes my life look small and insignificant and then somehow the problems of life become just as small and insignificant.