Everything Is Meaningless - Living Life Out Of Control

Are you ready for the message this morning?

I'm ready, here we go.

The title of the message is Living Life Out of Control.

Living life out of control.

That sounds interesting, right?

So we're in the middle of a sermon series entitled Everything is Meaningless.

Wow, isn't that?

I mean, it's just amazing to even think about that.

There's a book of the Bible that really this is the main theme that everything is meaningless.

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the wisdom books found in the Old Testament.

What are the other couples?

Anybody know another wisdom book in the Old Testament, proverbs, and one more In Job.

Yeah, so we have those three and it's one of the wisdom books.

But it's very different from, say, proverbs.

Proverbs approaches wisdom from kind of the general rule standpoint.

So it's like if you do this, then this will happen.

If you don't do this, then that will happen.

Right?

Does that make sense?

So wisdom is if you apply these truths, then there's an outcome-based situation that will occur.

But in the, the book of Ecclesiastes actually addresses kind of the exceptions to the rules.

So it doesn't just look at you know, you do this and this happens, or you don't do this and that happens.

It looks more at like the outcome.

The outcome can look very different based on circumstances and situations and things that are out of our control, things that don't make sense.

So if you had to define it, you could say that Proverbs is a very idealistic book, in the sense that this is like best case scenario, and then Ecclesiastes is more like a realistic book, so it's like worst case scenario.

So we need both of them together, right?

And then Job is a living example of an individual who actually had to walk out.

What we read in both Proverbs and in Ecclesiastes.

So our passage this morning is in Ecclesiastes, chapter 6, verses 10 through 12.

Ecclesiastes 6:10–12

And let's read the word of God together.

I'm reading from the New Living translation Everything has already been decided.

It was known long ago what each person would be, so there's no use arguing with God about your destiny.

The more words you speak, the less they mean.

So what good are they?

In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent?

Our lives are like a shadow.

Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your Word.

We thank you, father, that you put words that are really exciting for us to read and to praise you about.

You also put words that help us to deal with what's actually happening in our current situations and circumstances.

So we pray, lord, today, that we would glean hope and wisdom and common sense and direction from the words that you speak to us out of this book that You've placed in your Bible, called Ecclesiastes.

In Jesus' name, amen, I once knew a pastor that became the lead pastor of his church.

About the same time that Joel Osteen became the lead pastor of his church, joel Osteen's dad had passed away and this pastor's dad was retiring, was no longer a part of pastoring the church.

And so this pastor that I knew watched Joel Osteen on TV and thought to himself well, I mean, not a huge persona, you know, not necessarily, you know, not something that he was necessarily thinking this is just tremendous to listen to, and then also gospel light to a certain degree.

And so this pastor thought you know, we're both starting out at the same time.

We have similar scenarios, we're both taking over for our dad, so pretty good chance that over time we could follow the same trajectory.

You know, since this pastor was thinking I'm not necessarily that much worse than Joel Osteen, right?

Well, joel Osteen's church quickly became the largest church in America, and this pastor's church only grew nominally, in a very small way, and so it was a good lesson in humility for myself.

I mean, the pastor that was actually.

It was me.

It was actually me that felt all those things and thought all those things.

I was my friend who was the pastor.

So as we continue our study of the book of Ecclesiastes and we read these words, we have to see that Solomon if he's the author of this book, and it seems like he is is employing a similar tactic.

So he uses the teacher or the preacher to talk about all of the difficulties that come with living our lives for God and also living our lives in a world that is messed up by sin, right, and so it's like he throws all of that off onto the teacher and the preacher to be confused, about to toil with, to try to figure out, to consider all of those things.

And I picture this guy I don't know how you picture the teacher or the preacher.

I picture him like dressed in all black, with maybe a pipe you know with, with cherry tobacco, cherry smoked tobacco in it, and he's sitting there and he's, the lights are really dim and he just, you know, he puffs out some smoke and then he and I'm not encouraging that, by the way, I'm saying this is my vision of what the teacher or the preacher might, might look like and he's, he's sitting there and he has these pontifications, these words that he speaks out, and he doesn't use a lot of filter, he just kind of says it the way that he sees it, and I think that Solomon in all of his glory, somebody who had been given a great privilege by God to walk as the wisest man who had ever been given wisdom outside of Christ, obviously, but the wisest man who had ever been given the gift of wisdom, and yet here at the end of his life, as he's considering things he talks about a friend, a teacher, a preacher, who has some things to say that aren't so rosy or positive about life experience why, why would God include something like that in his book, in the Bible?

Why would he put something that is such, in some way, such a downer in the Bible?

Why would he allow for that, and not only allow for it but the call for it?

Is it possible that we find ourselves at times like the teacher or like the preacher in our own lives as cynics or critics, especially when it comes to the questions of life?

Is it possible you don't have to say that you are one of those but is it possible that at times we find ourselves in the seat of the cynic or the critic, trying to figure it all out, asking all the questions of life that don't seem to have the answers, at least that we want to hear?

It's not wrong to ask questions.

In fact, the Bible says that we are supposed to pray, we're supposed to talk to God, we're supposed to commune with them, we're supposed to ask him questions and to listen for our answers.

The problem is that God chooses to answer our questions in many different ways.

Is that right?

Have you ever had him answer no to something that you really wanted him to answer yes to and in the end you realize not then, but years later, maybe you realize that no was actually the right answer.

That's hard man.

Our flesh cries out and says no, god, you're wrong.

So Solomon, through the teacher here, continues this line of questioning what good?

Who knows what will happen?

Those are the questions he's asking of life and its seeming lack of purpose.

So let's get into it.

The first thing we need to recognize from this passage is that God is ultimately in control.

That's an amen moment.

We want God to be in control.

Trust me.

Trust me, the God of the universe, the creator of all things, the eternal Father, who is love.

He defines himself as love.

We want him to ultimately be in charge and to be in control.

Right, we'll talk about in a few minutes why we don't want him to be, but I'm telling you, we want him to be in control.

We want him to be in charge.

The passage said everything has already been decided.

It was known long ago what each person would be.

Isn't that wild?

Because why do we resist that so much?

Why does that thought creep over us and make us want to scream or to back away from this truth?

Here's the reality.

We champion this thought when it comes to baby dedications and pro-life events.

You'll hear verses like those found in Jeremiah and here in Psalm 139, verses 13 through 15,.

Psalms 139:13–15

For you formed my inward parts.

You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works.

My soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Now we have written songs about these verses, we have prayed prayers that included these verses, we have spoken words that include these verses.

So what changes in our minds about the importance of God being in control after we breathe our first breath here on this planet?

Something changes in our mindset, something changes in our will, Something changes in the way that we evaluate things.

But it's interesting because, even if you don't believe that God is in control or God is sovereign, listen to yourself, pray.

Sometimes the prayers that we all pray say we have a relative who is desperately in need of salvation.

What kind of prayer do we pray?

God, save them, rescue them, bring them to yourself, show them who you are.

Why don't we pray something more like Lord?

You know that they have good sense.

These are smart people.

They realize already that they have a problem.

So just be there and be ready when they make a decision to seek after you.

We don't pray that way.

Why not?

Because we understand that we need a God who not just in our making, in our mindset, in the way that we evaluate him.

We need a God who is bigger than us.

We need a God that's bigger than us, isn't that true?

The problem comes in when our life experiences don't line up with what we consider to be good or successful.

In Romans 8, 28, we all could quote it right.

What does it say?

We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.

Work together for good.

What is the definition of good there?

Is it our definition?

It's His definition, isn't it?

It's what he considers to be good.

It's easy to become resentful toward God when it seems like he's somewhere in the distance, somewhere out there in the dark.

He's delayed, he's not paying attention, he's forgotten about me or he's forgotten about you.

Here's the truth.

The sovereignty of God isn't fatalistic in any part.

He sees things from a forever perspective and makes only the wisest of plans.

We can trust His control completely.

You realize that even science itself relies on the control of God.

The laws of nature, everything that we know to be true, relies on something greater than itself to keep it in that place of truth.

Right, I think you all agree with me.

I think we're on the same page.

Okay, but it's a hard thing to embrace.

Why Can we be honest.

We want to be in control.

It's my party, it's my life, and I want to do what I want to do.

However, I want to do it.

Amen to that.

It's the truth.

It's the truth.

It's the way that we want to live.

But listen to the verses again from Ecclesiastes.

So there's no use arguing with God about your destiny.

The more words you speak, the less they mean.

It's almost like I could see God.

He wouldn't do this.

But if God were more like me, you could hear him go blah, blah, blah, blah.

You know he's like keep it coming.

Okay, keep talking, keep talking.

You already said that a thousand times.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Have you ever had a backseat driver?

Have you ever been surrounded by backseat drivers?

If you have been, possibly there is a problem with your driving.

Okay, if the whole car is trying to instruct you on how to drive differently, maybe pay attention to that, but if there's just one who's telling you how, you're going the wrong direction, you're going to the wrong place, you're making the wrong turn.

You should have gone back there.

You should have taken the interstate, you should have taken the backroads, you should have slowed down, speed up, put your signal on right.

I'm 50 years old.

I don't want to feel like I'm still in driving school and I'm not talking about my wife, by the way, so don't get that thought in your head but is it possible that that person who's in the backseat trying to drive me everywhere tell me where to drive everywhere doesn't know something I know?

Is it possible that they don't know about a wreck that's ahead that I'm aware of because I heard it on the radio or I saw it on TV?

Is it possible that they don't know that you're taking them to a surprise party and you have to go a different direction to get there?

Is it possible that they know something about the timing of things or a weather situation that's about ready to happen?

Is it possible that they know more than you?

You know what the epitome of us wanting to be in control is it's all found on one bumper sticker.

Do they still do bumper stickers?

It's found on one bumper sticker.

It's God is my co-pilot.

That is the ultimate crying out of.

I want to be in control.

If God's not the pilot of your airplane, it's going down, it's going down and it's going down hard and vast.

We need God to be in control.

Now isn't it nice, like with my kids when they were young, we'd go up to Cades Cove and Cades Cove was always fun and interesting for all of us because there was some backseat driving going on, when I would let one of them sit on my lap and drive us through Cades Cove Because of the fact that, if you've been up there, it's a very narrow road as they're driving and looking at things.

But what the person that was trying to help me make sure that they're going in the right direction and get on the road didn't recognize is that I had my hand down at the bottom of the steering wheel.

If they would go too far this way, I'd just correct it back.

If they went too far this way, I'd bring it back.

I also was in control of the gas and, more importantly, the brake Right.

So it's like that with our Heavenly Father.

Does he release authority to us?

Does he allow us to do things where my kids actually driving?

Yes, at times they were actually driving, but never out of my care, never out of the place of safety that I provided for them.

And that's the way it is with our Heavenly Father.

We want to be in control.

If we don't, well, first of all, how many of you love backseat drivers?

Anybody that would like for an extra one to be a part of your vehicle ride on the way home, let me know.

I'll hook you up with somebody that will go with you.

But why then, if we don't like that, why do we consistently do that to God?

How do we do it?

We ask the when questions.

How many of you remember the?

When are we going to get there?

How many minutes is it?

We all have our stock answers.

I think mine is 15 minutes.

It's about 15 minutes.

About is the important word, because if you're not going to lie, right, it's about 15 minutes.

15 minutes can become 15 hours, if necessary, in 15-minute increments, right?

When are we going to get there?

Where are we going?

These are questions we ask God.

How is this all going to work out?

How am I going to get out of this?

What are you doing?

And the one that never, hardly ever, gets answered is why, speaking of another wisdom book, job wanted to ask that question, didn't he?

And when God showed up, what did he say?

God asked the question of his own when were you when I laid the foundations of the earth and placed the stars in their place.

Where were you?

Where were you?

In other words, we need a God who's in control.

We recently finished the sermon series on the book of Mark.

You guys remember that this year, where we talked about how Peter attempted to correct Jesus for telling his disciples of his plan to give his life up for the redemption of mankind.

And Jesus said oh, you're right, let's change direction.

Maybe we could do this in different ways.

Is that what happened?

No, what did Jesus do?

He rebuked Satan Because he understood that the temptation that Peter was speaking was actually Satan speaking through him.

What is the temptation?

You can't trust God.

There's got to be a better way.

What did he do with Adam and Eve in the garden?

Did God really say that?

You know what God's doing?

He's holding it out on you.

There's something that you should know that you don't know.

Thank God that Jesus didn't deviate from the plan of redemption Amen.

We are sitting here today because of the fact that Jesus did not give in to demonic control.

We all have our own brand of control, don't we?

Maybe some of us use prayer to attempt to control even God.

We command him, god.

I command you to do this, to go there, to do that.

I command the angels to go to this and do this and do that.

Friends, let's be careful.

Let's be careful.

Let's make sure that we're walking in humility in everything that we do.

It's one thing to ask God for something.

It's another thing to tell him what to do.

He is a holy God who should be respected and reverenced, and we should have a holy fear for him and awe.

Not fear of destruction or devastation, but fear of understanding his otherness, the fact that he's greater than we are.

How about in work?

Some of us attempt to control our work environment by being volatile.

Oh, I'm just so tired, just so busy, I can't handle.

Another thing.

I know you can picture somebody else in the office that you work at acting like that.

None of us would ever try to control the scenario by being volatile at work.

Right, I don't know what's wrong with them, but don't send them any emails today.

Right, we can do all kinds of things to control.

How about in marriage, men misusing Scripture to beat their wives with words and with hands and feet Sick women using sex as a weapon to control their husbands, family children withholding love and respect, or parents withholding love and respect from their children.

You can even use health to try to control things.

I'm starving myself, I'm exercising obsessively, or just the opposite.

I'm eating my third bag of Cheetos and this one is the flaming hot bag.

And just to break it up a little bit, the worst one of all, maybe, is the remote control.

If you want to know what level of control you're exercising in your life, men especially, how often are you glad to see somebody else holding the remote control?

Not very often, do we Nobody, nobody fast-forward to commercial like I do.

You know what I'm saying.

Here's the reality about all of this.

The joke is on us because, no matter how much we think we're in control, we are not.

I'll give you a quick example of this.

I was in the hospital in 2020.

Many of you know this story, so I won't go into a great depth, but I had a colon issue and other issues going on and I had to have four surgeries Two of them were planned and two of them were emergency because of infection and times where I almost died.

And as I went into all of that scenario, the reason why it got to that point is because I was afraid to go to the doctor.

Yes, I'll say it, I was afraid to go to the doctor, and so I waited a month, as things did not get better but continued to get worse, and so then when I did go to the doctor, it was beyond just taking a pill, and then we're gonna get better, right?

So going through that process, I made a determination that I was gonna ask the Lord to show me what it was that I was afraid of, Because for my whole life I thought that I had had the fear of death, the fear of dying.

But I got so close to the point of death and when they told me that I did, I'm like I don't even remember that.

I know that I felt bad, but I didn't know that I got to that point.

So it's kind of interesting because God has placed in our bodies all of these hormones and things that are released at times when they need to be released, and a lot of times we don't even recognize what's happening within our bodies.

Cindy's experienced that multiple times, I'm sure yeah, thank God, you're here today.

Yeah, what a miracle.

So it wasn't the fear of dying.

But then I thought, well, maybe it was the fear of pain, because we think about dying and then we think about the pain of dying.

But I'm telling you this right now I went through what I would call extraordinary pain.

Now I know for I will not compare it ever with birthing a child.

Okay, nothing ever in my mind will equate to that, because I've been through that four times.

She's done great and I've almost passed out every time.

Not kidding.

So anyway, what happened is I realized it wasn't the fear of pain and so finally I'm like what is it, god?

And I didn't know it until the last surgery.

And COVID was rampant and nobody was allowed to come in the hospital to be with me, even my wife.

So I had that final surgery.

I'm in my hospital bed.

I can't help myself.

I'm reliant upon the nurse to do every single thing for me until that mean person comes in and I know some of you work in this field, so I'm not saying it you, but physical therapists.

I have a special place in my prayer life for physical therapists Because I've never known pain.

It's like the pain of getting up out of that bed after surgery.

But I know you gotta do it.

I know you gotta do it and I'm thankful for you.

I'm not trying to disparage you, but anyway, what I realized laying in that bed when I couldn't do anything, the Lord spoke to me and said you're afraid of losing control.

And I said well, I don't have much control right now.

And he said exactly, that's the point, you got it.

I'm like did it take four surgeries and all of this stuff for me to finally get to that point?

He's like you tell me.

You tell me.

Now.

I'm not saying that God did all of those things, don't hear me wrong.

But what I am saying is that God used that to help me to understand.

The real issue that I had in my life was a control issue.

I don't wanna be out of control.

Here's what the blessed news I'm gonna give all of you today.

I never really was in control.

It was all God anyway.

So, moving on, how should we live out of control?

How should we live that way In the few days of our meaningless lives?

Who knows how our days can best be spent?

Here's the issue.

Can I be honest with you?

Like, if we knew what God was gonna do the whole time, it may be a little easier for us, although, to be honest, we would still be in there trying to, like, coach him up.

You know, god, that's good, but this might be even better, cause we could kill two birds with one stone.

You could deal with those wicked people and you could bless me at the same time.

You know, yeah, I guess I'm the only one that has thoughts like that.

No, but the teacher spends chapter seven here trying to offer some answers to how we should spend the few days that we have in this miserable, meaningless life, understanding that God is ultimately in control.

So let's look at this.

The first thing that he says in Ecclesiastes seven is we must keep eternity in the front of our minds.

In verses one through four, he says a good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you are born.

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.

After all, everyone dies.

So the living should take this to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter.

Should I just stop now?

No, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

Wow, solomon, that's deep.

I was introduced to death very early on in life.

When I was 18 months old, my brother, who was a year older than I, drowned.

When he drowned.

It changed the whole trajectory of our family.

My brother had learned how to open the gate in the backyard, unbeknownst to my parents, and so he opened the gate and he and I found ourselves at this place of runoff area and that's where he found his.

That's where he passed.

I don't remember that, thankfully, but I do know from years of experience of living in a family who have suffered a loss like that how much it can affect a family.

I will say this on the night before my brother Brian's funeral, a Baptist minister came to my grandfather's house to talk with my grandfather about his need for salvation.

My grandfather was not wanting to talk at that moment so he said maybe you can help her.

Talking about my mom, the Baptist minister spoke to my mom and thanks me to God.

My mom gave her soul and life to Jesus Christ on that night and about a year and a half to two years later my dad gave his life to the Lord and about around that same time I gave my life to the Lord.

I gave my life to the Lord and now I have grandchildren who my granddaughter this morning was lifting up her little hand and saying hallelujah Jesus, and she doesn't know fully what all of that's about, but guess what Generations have been changed and affected because of the death of my brother.

Now, do I wish that on anyone?

Could God have done it some other way?

Of course, absolutely.

He could have done things.

He does things in many, many, many ways, but he's promised to turn things around, to make things that are horrible and devastating into something that can be called good.

I've conducted and attended many funerals since that day.

As heart-wrenching as they can be, I always in some ways recognize that they're the greatest opportunities for us to consider our own lives, our own brevity of life, the shortness of our lives, and it helps us to put our priorities in the right order.

What's really important?

How should I actually live my life?

What will be said at our funerals?

What will the words be that will be spoken?

Will people have to invent things about us to make a sound like decent people, or will they have words and experiences that they can express not perfection, but a heart that understood the love of God for themselves, for yourselves, and then also that you showed that love toward others?

Sorrow and sadness and suffering and death teach us much more in this life than mindless days listening to podcasts about things that we're interested in and I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to podcasts, I'm just comparing the two.

We can find ourselves trapped in this frame of thought that keeps us away from thinking about the things that are really important or significant, based on something that we want to do.

It's not wrong to laugh and enjoy life, as long as we remember that what we gain by looking at life from an eternal perspective, that's what we need to remember, what we will gain.

I'd much rather be ready for eternity than living this life.

For my constant amusement.

My friends, the story does not end with you taking your last breath here on this life.

We were made by God to live eternally and we will either with Him, which is His intended purpose for creation, or apart from Him, which is the root that sin and death and hell will lead us to.

Paul struggled with this whole concept of life and death in Philippians as he writes these words.

For to me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better, but if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.

So I really don't know which is better.

I'm torn between two desires.

I long to go and be with Christ.

Can we say amen to that, which would be far better for me, but for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live.

So he understood that if he is here on this earth, he's left here for a reason to do something with this life that he's been given.

The second thing that chapter seven tells us is that we need godly accountability in our lives to keep us properly focused.

Verses five and six says better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.

A fool's laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire.

This also is meaningless.

If we want to walk this walk the way that God intends for us to, we cannot trust our own judgment exclusively.

The reason why the body of Christ is so valuable and so important, especially in the days that we're living in, is because we can easily get off track and take a side road or take a path that's going to be very, very destructive for us.

How important it is to have the words of people who love us, who share things with us that could save our lives.

I once had a man well, pete Beck.

Many of you know Pete Beck.

He passed away this last year and he's in glory, celebrating with Jesus and dancing.

That man loved to dance and he was.

He's dancing and running and leaping and praising God.

I'm sure one time I was complaining to him about our church in North Carolina and I said it seems like nobody has any passion.

And he looked at me and he goes well, how's your passion level?

That's all he said.

And I'm like well, these people are bringing me down.

And he's like no, no, no, that's not what I'm asking.

Like, how was your relationship with the Lord going?

Are you enjoying fellowship with him?

Are you spending time in the Word and in prayer?

Are you worshiping outside of Sunday mornings?

Are you, you know, witnessing?

Okay, enough enough?

You're right, I'm the problem, we're the problem.

We all need Jesus, right?

We need people in our lives that we trust to speak the truth in love to each other.

They may not answer all of our problems, but their advice will be far more worth.

Worth far more than popular songs that have no moral compass and the shallow humor of comedians.

We need the truth.

Amen, just about finished here.

We are further along in our spiritual journey.

We who are further along also need to be those people for others, not critics, but people who walk alongside and say, hey, I've been down that road.

I'm telling you it's a dead end, it's not the right track for you.

Let me walk with you, Let me show you the way.

There's a better way, there's a more excellent way than the one that you're walking.

Proverbs 27 says it very succinctly an open rebuke is better than hidden love.

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

I still think of Judas' kiss and Jesus said my friend wow.

In number three, we must avoid ever-present dangers that try to distract us.

Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

Finishing is better than starting.

Patience is better than pride.

Control your temper, for anger Labels you a fool.

Don't long for the good old days.

This is not wise.

Wow, that's a mouthful.

We're going to get through it in about three minutes.

One of Satan's plans is to try to distract us with temptations to attempt to control our circumstances or the people in our world by using devilish devices to do that.

So let's just go through this list.

Number one extortion or bribes, using evil tactics to try and get ahead.

Power moves, power trips that cause wise men to lose their sense of balance and restraint.

There I say politics.

Do we see this in politics?

Extortion and bribes, obviously all the time.

And I just mentioned Judas.

Don't go down that path.

It's a dead end.

The next one is impatience.

I know that some of you are counting, watching, looking at your clock.

Right now You're exercising.

We are exercising impatience, right, attempting to short circuit the process of character development.

God is working, he's doing something.

It comes only through endurance.

Character development only comes through endurance.

You can read about that in Romans 5, verses 3 through 5.

Romans 5:3–5

Impatience children with children with parents.

I have one child that talks a lot and another child who talks a little and I've been impatient with both of them.

Why?

Because he didn't talk.

Just right, I'm Goldilocks, okay?

No, what is wrong with that?

I'm looking at life with the wrong lenses.

How about anger?

Aggressively blaming others for our own mistakes?

Anger, violence, rage you know most of it comes from a victim mindset.

Most of us think that we're being mistreated or taken advantage of and maybe we are but anger is not what we're supposed to use to deal with that.

We can turn it outward through rage, or most of us who are more mature use passive, aggressive means Because we would never want to raise our voice.

So we'll just say what we want to say in a cutesy little way that paints a picture of I hate you, you're lame, okay.

Or, unfortunately, anger can be turned inwardly and show up as depression or anxiety and, most devastatingly, we can also be mad at God.

God Because his plan, his way of doing something was different than our own, or maybe we can't see it clearly, we don't understand it.

And finally, discontentment, wanting the good old days.

We can worship the good old days and also we kind of reinvent the good old days.

When you're telling a story from your early days and you're told it for the hundredth time, one guarantee I'll give you the facts are not accurate.

Because if you tell it in front of your wife, what does she do?

Well, that's not what it was, this is what was.

And you're like no, this is, it sounds better this way.

That's called a lie or it's a hopeful thought, it's something that we place back in to kind of clean it up a little bit.

So it seems better, right?

We can all do that at times.

We're not supposed to.

Discontentment, looking backwards we can even stare at something as great as the Reformation and make that an idol we can evaluate or look at a period of revival in our lives and say, unless we have that again, god's not moving.

We can idolize things.

We can grow discontent very easily.

If you don't believe me, just ask Lot's wife.

She looked back one time.

And the final part of this passage is we must live like we are going to die.

Our lives are like a shadow.

Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

One thing is sure, my friends death is coming and we had better make the best use of our present opportunities.

Because when death comes, when none of us know the day, none of us know the hour, it will come.

Unless Jesus returns on our lifetime, it will come to each of us.

And when it does, will we be able to stand before Jesus and say, when he asks the one question that he will ask us what did you do with what I gave you?

Are we going to be able to say I loved because you loved me.

I gave, I was merciful because you were merciful.

I was filled with faith because you were faithful?

Death is the truest equalizer of this current life.

Everyone will die until Jesus returns.

Life is like a drop in the ocean, a speck of sand on the safe shore, a star in the sky.

It's like vapor or fog here today and gone in a few minutes.

What will we do with the in-betweens?

Here's what we all must do if we haven't yet.

Number one you must accept that you are not in control of the universe or even your own life, the eternal God is.

Number two you must acknowledge that you have broken God's law and you have rebelled against him.

The Bible calls that sin.

Romans 3.23 tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

That death there isn't just physical death, it's separation from God.

Number three repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ.

My friends, the only one who ever got it right every moment of every day of his life here on this earth was Jesus, and he did that for us so that he could equip us by his Holy Spirit to have the grace that we need to live out this life for him.

Romans 6.23b says but the free gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Mark 1.15 says repent and believe in the gospel.

Those are the words of Jesus.

Number four confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Romans 10.9 says because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, no doubt, no question.

Number five get baptized in water and be filled with the Spirit, and we see that in Acts 2.38.

And finally, live in community with fellow believers.

If you would write down that scripture verse, acts 2.42 through 47, and read that this week and ask yourself am I living out this kind of life?

Because that's life, the very best way that God has designed for us to live out here in this life, outside of him coming back and making all things right, which he's going to do very soon.

If you've already done all of those things, guess what?

We have the privilege of helping other people do the very same things.

That's what all of these outreaches are about.

That's why we're going to Tanzania and we're in Kenya and we're going to Poland and Ukraine and Russia and Tuva.

Why?

Because God is in charge and people like us need to acknowledge their need for a Savior.

Let's pray, father.

I'm so grateful for the privilege of standing again in this pulpit.

It's been a journey for me this summer and for my family.

I just thank you, lord, for the faithfulness that you have shown toward us and toward your people.

Here we ask, lord God, in Jesus' name, that this message would not cause us to be down in the sense that we feel depressed or anxious.

Lord, I pray that we would recognize that the days that we have in this life, though they be few, can be filled with purpose and meaning If we just recognize the fact that you're in control, that we don't need to be in control because you've got it all handled, but that you have a purpose, that you want us to be about your business here in this life.

So I pray first of all, lord, for those who have not yet accepted you as their Savior.

And, lord, I pray that they would do that today, even now, that they would follow the words of Scripture, that they would acknowledge their need and repent and believe on the Lord Jesus, and that they would be saved even now.

And, lord, I also pray, father, for the rest of us.

Forgive us, lord, for exercising control in areas where we weren't supposed to, where we had no right or responsibility to Help us to be like children who sit in our Father's lap as he guides and leads us, and that he allows us to be a part of what he's doing here in this life.

Thank you, lord, that you trust us, that you privilege us with doing your work here in this world.

Let me give you glory for it in Jesus' name.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May he lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace in Jesus' name, amen.