The patient presented for depression, an unexplainable feeling that things weren't as they should be. He came to me for help, unsure of what he could do to improve his situation. He had achieved every goal he had set for his in life but something was missing. He had a beautiful wife and well-behaved children, a good paying job, a nice car, and a comfortable home. He had arrived at the destination he had been working toward since he graduated high school, he had checked off every box on his list, but he wasn’t happy.
He came to see me wondering if he was depressed. He wasn’t. It took only a few minutes of conversation to identify the problem. He was unfulfilled. He had met his goals but failed to find his purpose. He had not addressed life’s most important question. He had not asked himself, “What happens next?”
He had fallen into the trap that has ensnared so many. He had lived his life thinking that once he checked off all of the items on the list of attributes of a successful life that he would be happy. He believed the lie that if he could simply achieve his life’s goals that he would then be content. When he had achieved those goals and not found happiness he did not know what to do with himself.
His fate is the fate that awaits all who believe that earthly success can bring happiness. It is a pursuit that ends in despair. News reports and reality TV provide overwhelming evidence of the fact that the rich and famous are not fulfilled and happy people, yet our pursuit of wealth and fame continue unabated. For life to have meaning, more is required. For life to have meaning, there must be more to life than this life offers.
The question for our lives is “What happens next?” for it is eternity that matters. Living for eternity, with the awareness of what happens when this live is over, can keep us from empty pursuits. When we die it will be the only question that matters. The most fulfilling and truly successful lives are lived by those for who the answer to the question is “I will spend eternity with God.”
- Bart
Thanks for reading and sharing. The greatest reminder of why this question is significant is just a week away, when Christians all over the world celebrate the enduring evidence for life after this one, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.