Feeling Trapped?
Scripture Reading — Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? . . . This too is meaningless.
Imagine a group of people being placed in a room without any exit. As much as they might try, there is no way out. They are trapped!
Today untold numbers of people feel trapped in the situations of their lives.
Some feel trapped in the everyday routine of running a household and raising children. A young mother with three preschool children told me that she was "climbing the walls" from boredom. Others dread going to work to face a never-ending round of "the same old thing." Still others find themselves trapped in a wheelchair or a bed, unable to get out.
In 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle Paul admits that life is meaningless without the risen Savior. Paul even says that if Christ has not been raised, we may as well live it up, as the Epicurean philosophers of his day suggested: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Corinthians 15:32). Only the risen Savior can help us see that there is more to life than meets the eye.
If you feel trapped, turn to the Savior and ask him to open the door to the freedom he has come to bring: new life that we can live fully and forever with God!
Lord Jesus, we pray for all who feel trapped in their lives. Please bring someone to lead them to you and help them see that you alone can bring meaning to our lives. In your name, Amen.
About the author — Arthur J. Schoonveld
Rev. Art Schoonveld is a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Before retiring in 2001, he served churches in California, Illinois, and Michigan. Since his retirement he has worked part-time for the denomination and has served as an interim pastor. Art and his wife, Anita, have four children and nine grandchildren.
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