The Course of History

Do we really affect that much? I really want to say yes, but there are too many cautionary tales which tell me that succumbing to the tendency toward aggrandizing our own lives is simple to do. After all, our lives have to mean something. If they don’t, then getting out of bed tomorrow morning might be a challenge. Right? Please say yes that our lives mean something of great consequence. Did you say yes?

Here’s the challenge that I face. Scripture tells me that I am deeply broken. Without God, my best efforts are like rubbish in a ridiculously large heap of rubbish. And I believe that to be true. It all boils down to a matter of comparison. My efforts do not stand up to the beauty of God’s work. That last part must be remembered. Scripture claims that in comparison to God, my best falls miserably short. My best may be good; just nowhere as good as Him.

But, let’s take a next step. What if my life has been healed? What if my sin has been forgiven? Because of what I believe, I say that is most definitely true. The sin is gone, and if so, is it all still rubbish, or does God take those efforts that we make and do something wonderful with them? The Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel wrote “Man’s coexistence with God determines the course of history.” That’s a huge statement! I’ve been told to be careful with large statements like that one. “Man’s coexistence with God determines the course of history.” That one sentence declares, if true, that not only does God interact with our choices, but that our choices matter greatly to how life unfolds on a scale of great significance.

At the very least then, I can get out of bed in the morning knowing that my life does mean something. And at the very most, well, only God knows the answer to that one.