Many people today are looking for answers to life’s toughest questions: Why am I here? Is this all there is? What’s my purpose in life? When I die, then what? If that’s you, are you looking in the right place? Could the answers be closer than you think?

These are important questions. Finding the right answers can mean the difference between peace and joy or anxiety and unrest and sometimes have life or death consequences.

Today’s Readings:

2 Samuel 7 & 8
Psalm 64.1-10
Proverbs 16.18-19
John 5.24-47

Looking for Answers to Life’s Toughest Questions?

John 5.24-47:

Looking & Not Seeing

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (vss. 34-35).

The religious leaders studied and debated and memorized the Scriptures, but were blinded to the truths contained in them which pointed to Jesus as their Messiah. Sadly, He was right in their midst but they didn’t even recognize Him.

Neither did they understand that God’s desire was to have their hearts. They believed they were right with Him because of all their religious activity. They sought to obey every legalistic jot and tittle but missed the most important truth (Matt. 22.35-40).

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel (Matt. 23.23-24)!

Looking in All the Wrong Places

As Americans, we have grown up in a nation where Bibles are everywhere. There is hardly a home without one, yet many of us look for eternal life and the answers to life’s toughest questions everywhere but in the Book of Life!

We study psychology or at least every pop psychology or self-help book that comes along trying to understand ourselves and others. We may try to find eternal life by leaving a legacy or by making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate—both good things to do, but they can’t save us. Some look for satisfaction by getting involved in social justice issues or other causes. Or seeking to live longer and healthier with the help of medical science as if we can somehow avoid death altogether.

In recent years there even seems to be an upsurge in “spirituality,” as celebrities and other people alike seek peace and answers in Eastern religions, Islam, and New Age spirituality, looking everywhere but where truth can be found.

He is the Answer

Yet, like the Scribes and Pharisees, the answer is right in front of us. It’s found in the Person of Jesus Christ and in His Word. It starts with acknowledging Him for who He is … the Son of God and believing in Him as Savior and Lord.

Then realizing that true peace, joy, and satisfaction come from living life to please Him (2 Cor. 5.9-10).

Peter told us that the Word of God contains everything we need to live godly lives (2 Pet. 1.2-4). Paul said it this way:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right (2 Tim. 3.16 NLT).

Psalm 19 teaches us that His Word is perfect and that it brings wisdom, joy, and true enlightenment. The psalmist goes on to tell us it is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey to those who cultivate a taste for it (Ps. 19.7-10). It warns us away from trouble and rewards those who seek to understand and live by it (Ps. 19.11; Jas. 1.22-25).

But ultimately, God’s Word points us to Jesus, even in the Old Testament. Some scholars believe there are over 400 Old Testament references that point to His coming (Is. 7.14, 9.6, 50.6, 53.3-7; Mic. 5.2; Zech. 9.9, 12.10; Ps. 22.16-18).

Life’s Toughest Questions

Today’s Other Readings:

2 Samuel 7 & 8

The Goodness of God

Read David’s prayer in chapter 7:

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?

He understood that God’s favor came only as a result of His mercy and grace and not because of any goodness in him. What a great example of how we should prayerfully respond to the goodness of God in our lives!

Psalm 64.1-10:

Who Will Know?

Verse 5, talking about the wicked says:

They encourage themselves in an evil matter; they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, ‘Who will see them?’

The wicked secretly plot evil as if God doesn’t know what they are doing. But God is omniscient. He knows everything that has ever happened, everything that is happening now, and everything that ever will happen.

How do you live? Do you harbor secret sin in your life as if God doesn’t know? Do you excuse it by saying, “It’s no big deal?” “Compared to other people, I’m not so bad.” “Everyone has some shortcomings.” “Who will know?”

God knows and He’s calling us to confess and forsake those things that are not pleasing in His sight.

Proverbs 16.18-19:

Pride or God’s Grace

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall (v. 18).

James said that God resists the proud (Jas. 4.6). He sets Himself in battle array against those who behave pridefully or harbor pride in their hearts. But He gives grace, His undeserved favor, to those who humbly submit to Him and His will for their lives.

Coming Up:

In the coming days, we’ll discuss the cost of losing God’s restraining grace, talk about true friendship, and the various reactions to the claims of Christ. We’ll also look at the question: Are you living in the power of the Holy Spirit?

I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our new sister site Joyful Marriage Ministries. While you’re there, click the “events” tab for information on our upcoming marriage retreat.

And if this post spoke to you, I would so appreciate it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.

Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

I recently read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.