For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. (Ecclesiastes 5:20) When you initially read this verse, or even this passage in the Bible, you might get the sense that life is unfair and is really hopeless. In fact, if you don’t feel like life is unfair and incredibly hopeless after living it for a few years, then you are one of the lucky few that lived a blessed life. Most likely, you may have come to a point where you believe that the only thing going for you in this life is the hope that you will find something to be distracted by. Now what if I told you the reason this verse is in the Bible is because people find themselves contextualizing all their experiences and their hardships in the wrong way. What I mean is that through our lives we begin to get the feeling that life is against us and we become stick in thoughts and things that have long passed us by and now no longer matter to anybody but us. That is to say that we have a serious problem on harping on things and thoughts that occurred in the past which keeps us from seeing and experiencing the present we have before us. It is such a shame. However, no matter how hopeless your life may acutually be, God wants to give us a joy that overwhelms all other experiences and scars that we want to harp on. In fact, there is a singular joy God offers to us. When we have this joy, nothing else matters. We would trade away all our possessions and memories for this joy. To the Christian that joy is faith in Jesus as lord and savior and it is Jesus who occupies or mind and hearts above everything else. He gives us a perspective superceding everything. This is amazing grace. This is the power to overcome. This is love. Be occupied by joy in the face of living life. Life with God, a true journey with Him, no matter the difficulty, is so much more than memories of a life without Him.
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