It's An Uphill Battle
According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king who angered the gods by his craftiness and trickery, even having once cheated death. His eternal punishment was to push a boulder up a steep hill, only to watch it roll back down just before he reached the top. Sisyphus would then have to start over, pushing the boulder back up again, in a never-ending cycle of effort without achievement.
Thus, the term "Sisyphean endeavor" refers to a task that is both laborious and futile. It represents the endlessness futility of pursuing worldly success
No matter how many times we push our boulder up the hill of worldly gain and materialism, it always comes right back down. This is the reality we all face until God infuses divine purpose into our otherwise pointless lives.
"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds" (Ephesians 4:17, ESV).
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (Proverbs 19:21, ESV).
If only I knew
Imagine yourself as a successful worker thriving in a large accounting firm. You are only fifty years old and still have many things you want to achieve and experience for the rest of your life, including an exciting retirement plan.
But one day, the doctor tells you that you have an inoperable brain cancer and are given only 100 days to live.
For a man named Eugene O’Kelly,* what you just imagined was a reality in his life.
His life story is told in his book titled Chasing Daylight.
On May 24, 2005, Eugene received the devastating news that shattered his life plans.
Upon learning the seriousness of his illness, he did what he was trained to do as an accountant – he made a list:
- Resign from my job.
- Choose medical treatments that allow me to...
- Make the most of the remaining time for those most affected by my condition.
Eugene even made a to-do list for his final days:
- Settle legal and financial matters
- Open up relationships,
- Simplify
- Live for today
- Create joyful moments
- Begin transitioning to the next phase
- Plan the funeral
- Stay positive until the end.
In Scripture, there was a King of Israel who also experienced a similar situation. He knew exactly how long he had left to live in this world. In 2 Kings 20:1-11 we read that King Hezekiah became gravely ill (verse 1), but when he prayed to God, asking for His mercy, God extended hiss life by 15 years (verse 6).
But King Hezekiah didn't initially take full advantage of the remaining time granted to him. In 2 Chronicles 32:24-33 we read that He was first overtaken by pride (verse 25), derailing him from productive and positive use of his remaining time.
*Eugene O'Kelly was a former Chairman and CEO of KPMG, one of the largest U. S. accounting and consulting firms and one of the Big Four auditors. Eugene was elected chairman and CEO of KPMG in 2002 for a term of six years. In May 2005, at age 53, Eugene was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.
Fortunately, Hezekiah soon turned away from his pride and began doing good for Israel, making good use of the remaining years of his life. He started by building storehouses (verses 27-28), establishing new cities (verse 29), and constructing water reservoirs for the land of Israel (verse 30).
For most of us, it's is true that we will never know when our end will come. But one thing we can definitively know ... One thing we should know is that we will not be here in this world forever.
Our lives are finite.
May I invite all of us today to imagine the experience of Eugene, who had only 100 days left to live, Just imagine, what you do with those remaining 100 days in your daily life.
Make a list, set priorities. Then live that list out, over and over again, until you actually come to the end of your days. Don't be a Hezekiah, wasting even a single moment of your time. Be a Eugene! And like Eugene, remember to "Stay positive until the end!"
And may we pray with Moses, Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
The Mysterious Blessing of Purpose
Wolves are fascinating creatures, and even more so due to the recent changes to their population in North America.
In 1995, grey wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. Knowing that wolves are predators and typically at the top of the food chain, common expectation was that elk, beaver, rabbit, and other prey populations might decrease due to the predatory prowess of the wolves — you know, the whole "circle of life" effect.
But the reverse has actually been the case. There was only one beaver colony in the park in 1995, but by 2019 there were nine colonies! What possible impact did the reintroduction of wolves have on the beaver population? Well, as the wolves chased the elk they began moving around more, spreading throughout the park. This disbursement of the elk population allowed beavers and other animals to enjoy a greater share of the vegetation they need to eat for survival. And since the beavers were now able to not just survive, but to thrive, they built more dams, which in turn has benefitted the fish, bird, and bear populations.
... [T]he reintroduction of wolves continues to astonish biologists with a ripple of direct and indirect consequences throughout the ecosystem. ... It is like kicking a pebble down a mountain slope where conditions were just right that a falling pebble could trigger an avalanche of change. — Doug Smith, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project
You see how this works? What was feared as an irritant, a disruptor, a destroyer, was actually a catalyst for immensely powerful and positive change.
Just as wolves have their place in the economy of wildlife ecology, they likewise have their place in the economy of the Kingdom.
For example, Saul of Tarsus perceived the bold and fearless testimony of Stephen as a wolf, an irritant, a disruptor, a threat to the status quo of Jewish life and culture. So he had him stoned to death. Yet in doing so, he didn't protect anything. Instead, Acts 8:1-4 tells us:
"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison."
YET! ...
"Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went."
This great irritant, this great disruption to the status quo, proved instead to be the catalyst for the early believers to be scattered, and for the Gospel message to be spread and thrive throughout the entire known world.
On the flip side of that coin, the Church perceived Saul of Tarsus as a wolf, a great irritant, and disrupter of the survival of the fledgling Church. Yet the events following the death of Stephen became part of the amazing story of the transformation of Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, whose life and ministry remains one of the greatest catalysts for the growth of the Church even to this day.
Brothers, in this world there WILL be wolves. Don't run in fear from them. Embrace the struggle. See the struggle as potential for great personal, and even corporate growth. Just as the introduction of the wolves into the park forced the animals to spread out, the disruption brought greater growth and potential. So, along with that Yellowstone biologist, choose to see the potential from the struggle with disruptors as "a ripple of direct and indirect consequences throughout the ecosystem."