Life Happens.

 Life happens. What exactly does that mean? There are so many facets to life happening we couldn't begin to count them. When something not so nice happens, we tend to say stuff such as, life happens. We say it to perhaps remind ourselves that life is filled with things that we don't expect and don't like. The idea of living a life happily ever after is a huge fallacy if you're expecting that life to be here and now. The fairy tales tell us that we will suffer unjust hardship but in the end all works out and then you go to live happily. Not true. Fairy tale is named fairy tale for a reason, it's not real just as fairies are not real. The tale part is that it's a made up story, not a true story. True life stories have a much different meaning. That's not to say we don't have true life stories of people suffering and overcoming hardships, that occurs all the time. But a true life story will never end with that person living happily EVER AFTER. That person's life will be filled with ups and downs because that is what life now is all about. The richest person alive will have ups and downs. The richest person alive may not have to suffer hunger, cold, discomfort in most any way, but they will still have to deal with illness, diseases, the common cold. The richest person will still have to lose their loved ones. The richest person will still suffer accidents. The money of the richest person may make all these things out of their control a bit better to handle, but it won't take away all of it by a long shot. 

Life happens and life happening in our world is filled with the unknown. We have no clue what tomorrow may bring, not a clue. We live in a constant state of the unknown. We fill our lives with constants as we attempt to have some knowledge of tomorrow, but in a blink of an eye everything can be turned upside-down on us, and often is. 

Such turmoil mentally and emotionally, yet this is what we call life happening. Some roll with the inconsistencies a lot better than others. Some have adopted an attitude of dealing with life as it comes without letting it upset them. Some go through major tragedies and continue with the belief it's all a part of life, can't change it, can't do anything so why let it bother me.  I'd say those people are mostly rare. Most people rage against life's upsets and then only after raging do they come to some sort of terms with what's happening so they can continue to live their lives.  Some rage on and on and on letting the rage become their lives. 

Life happens. We are blessed with life happening to us because without life happening to us we would never have the opportunity to comprehend that the very fact life has happened to us can give us the knowledge that all these life happening events we dread are not how life was intended for us.

We have knowledge of the wrongness of life happening events, and the mere understanding there is a wrongness mean there is a rightness. There is a rightness that tells us life shouldn't be this way. Suffering shouldn't be a part of life. We know this deep down in our very core, that something messed up the way life should be for us. We know this every time we seek to get better from some illness, accident, disease and so on. Life is not supposed to be suffering, we know this because we don't always suffer, or haven't always suffered, and if for some reason you have, you can see others who don't suffer through life as you have.  We know, we truly know this is not how it is all supposed to be. This knowledge can be painful to confront because it means either it will never change and this truly is going to be how it is going to be without any true consolation, or that there is something different intended for us that can become a reality. 

Yes, this is how it is. But, no, this is not all there is to our lives. The problem arises when we come to realize that we have to believe without actually experiencing our future reality. We have to believe that there is more after this part of our life, that in fact, because life isn't how it's supposed to be and we know that, we know there is hope for how it is supposed to be. Hope.

Expectation. 

With truly irrefutable proof from an historical logic perspective that has been researched in depth countless times, we know that one man died and rose again and many were witnesses to this happening. That man wasn't knocked unconscious, he wasn't in a coma of any sort, he was conscious when he died and not in a position to receive any head injury that would result in a brain injury that would only incapacitate him for a short few days. The historic facts from more than one perspective speak for themselves and tell us this man died completely- brain, body - cold stone dead, lifeless, no chance to recover- we've had lots and lots and too numerous to count dead people in the same position of death- no breath at all, not even the tiniest. No heartbeat, not even the faintest. The life blood gone and the body cold, stiffening quickly as they tend to do, within hours after death.  He was dead, dead, and dead. Yet, this man came back to life after his body went through the beginning of the decaying processes. It happened. Doubt if you choose, but many have doubted and sought proof and delved into the study of it with the ability to research it in ways the average person can't seem to, and they have come to the conclusion it happened just as we are told it happened. 

A movie (book) called The Case For Christ….. If you want proof watch/read it. If you'd rather stick with your own suppositions based on your own study, that's your choice.  Here's a blurb on it from the internet--

'“The Case for Christ” is an upcoming film that is based on Lee Strobel's 1998 best-selling book of the same name. ... The true story follows Strobel (Mike Vogel) as a Chicago Tribune investigative reporter in 1980, as he tries to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife Leslie (Erika Christensen).'

This is just one man, there are other people who have undertaken the same journey in different ways. C.S. Lewis was a staunch Atheist, but something changed his view. Do some reading, some studying. If you're reading this you have internet access. 

This man who died and rose did so to ensure that we ALL have a chance to do likewise- have a life after dying promised to us when this man returns for us. 

1Co_15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th_4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first

This man came and lived among us to leave us with a rich history of the truth that there awaits us all the opportunity for the life we know we should have had, the life that awaits us without-  life happens - events we resign ourselves to. 

We have hope through this man- Jesus Christ, Son of Man, God's only begotten Son.  He gives us the truth that we all know deep down whether we want to admit to it or not. Life as we know it will not always happen, there is so much more.

All through His grace and mercy, His love, now and forever! Amen.