An Exercise In Futility

There is something I have come to believe... come to realize within these past few years. As I decided to begin to walk in faith... to live it... to give the Lord my all... my eyes have been opened to a lot of things. The term spiritually blind holds so much truth now that I can see more clearly. I often wonder how I could miss so much before... how I could live without this truth. It was an exercise in futility... that is for certain.

Walking in the world, living by it's ways, we are led to believe that happiness can be found. For a while it can... but it is surely soon to leave. Happiness is fleeting. But the world tells you to chase after it as if it is actually something you can obtain... but you can't. At least not actual lasting happiness.

We are also led to believe that we can find contentment and joy in this world. All you need to do is just buy this or that and you will be happily content with your life... for a moment. This all shows to be true as we see companies like Apple and their products come out every year... the new Iphone, Ipod, Iwhatever... better than the last, but not as good as the next one to come, and we are sold hook, line, and sinker every time. Because we think we will be happy. We think we will be content. We think that this one will bring us joy that will last.

But does it? No. And it won't... it can't. Stuff like that is only made to make you want more. Your contentment is soon fading, and your joy and happiness go by the wayside until you get your hands on what comes next.

And material things are not the end of it. We do the same things with the people in our lives. Friends come and go as we move on to people we have more in common with. The friends we once had fun with, hung out with, shared our lives with... gone... by choice. Worse yet is what we can do to that special someone... the one you claimed to love at one time. The one you wanted to spend your life with. The one in whom you were content, happy, and full of joy to be around. Even in those relationships we can grow bored... we can become unhappy... we can lose that love... and we are no longer content. We think that there is someone else out there who is better for us. We are not willing to work out our problems, and we give up and move on to the next one. Oddly enough, it will only be a matter of time before it happens all over again. We are not meant to find contentment in things or in people. We can fall in love... hopefully madly and deeply... and find happiness in another. We can find joy in that person.

The question is how do we keep it?

Trying to find happiness... or peace... or true lasting joy... trying to find any of these outside of in God, is an exercise in futility. There is a role in our lives that God and God alone is meant to play, and trying to place anyone else in that role will wind up with us both being disappointed. The bible is full of scripture which point to this exact fact... so if we desire true happiness, real joy, actual contentment, and perfect peace, there is only one place to find it.

Isaiah 26:3 (New King James Version)

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Psalm 4:8 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁸ In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 43:4 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Hebrews 13:5 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Proverbs 19:23 (New International Version, ©2010)

²³ The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

I could probably list dozens of verses here and not even scratch the surface of all the bible has to say about happiness, peace, joy and contentment. The point I am trying to show goes back to the first verse I used...

Isaiah 26:3 (New King James Version)

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

God will keep us in perfect peace if our minds are stayed on Him... focused on Him... and if we trust in Him. We don't even have to try to find that peace if we remain focused on Him... it is a natural byproduct of being focused on Him. That is why Jesus said to seek God first above all else, and anything else will be added unto us...

Matthew 6:33 (New King James Version)

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

That is also why Jesus has told us to seek heavenly treasures and not earthly ones... for the earthly ones are sure to fade away...

Matthew 6:19-21 (New King James Version)

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where our hearts are, where our focus is, that is where our treasures will be. If you focus on the temporal... the material things of this world... the people of this world... thinking that you will find peace and joy, happiness and contentment amongst them... you will be wrong. If you focus on God, and focus on living within His will... seek Him first... and then all else will be added unto you. And it will be eternal, never fading, true peace, joy and happiness. Then you can be content.

It kind of all just flows together. I think David got it right when he wrote this Psalm...

Psalm 37:3-7 (New International Version, ©2010)

³ Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. ⁴ Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him


Our search for happiness does not need to be futile. Our search for peace does not need to be evading... as the joy it brings eludes us all along the way. It can be had, and it can be had right now in this life. He came to bring it with Him. He died so we can have it.

John 14:27 (New International Version, ©2010)

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

In the book of Luke this account was given of something that Zechariah had said regarding his son John the Baptizer, and about Jesus...

Luke 1:76-79 (New King James Version)

⁷⁶ “ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, ⁷⁷ To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸ Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; ⁷⁹ To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Who was it that John prepared the way for... Jesus. Who is the Dayspring from on high who came to give light to those who sit in darkness, and to guide our feet into the way of peace... it was Jesus... it IS Jesus. He came to set the captives free. Captives of a futile life... now freed to live in peace and joy. He came so that the blind can see...

Isaiah 42:6-7 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁶ “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, ⁷ to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

It is because He came... because He died... because He rose again... that we can live in peace. The peace He gave us which cannot be taken away.