The first man was created complete and placed in God’s perfectly designed world. God created man to experience fulfillment in a quality relationship with Him, aware of his value and purpose, active and creative with power, with an eternal spirit. We were made to be both physically alive and spiritually alive. God created humanity with all that was needed to be completely content. With disobedience came a fracture in our God-image. Now there was a problem. We still have God’s image, but its expression and experience have become severely distorted.

God has been and forever will be, humanity, on the other hand, is confined by time. Our only experience involves time. We have a birth date; we have a death date; we are defined and restricted by time. It is almost too much for our little brains to grasp the concept of eternity.

Are you exhausted and worn out? Has your life turned out differently than you expected? Have you run out of answers? Do you feel isolated? Has life lost its meaning? Are you confused? The chances are if you think this way, you are spiritually empty.

Our eventual death is an issue faced by all human beings. For many, the subconscious anxiety caused by a fear of death is behind a lot of their daily anguish. This burden affects us all; we are all going to die.

With the first breath from God, a man received a portion of God’s creativity and power. Humanity is not content being passive. Our God-given nature is to be creative as we interact with the rest of God’s creation

Our life is filled with daily choices – too numerous to count. We choose a path, and the path leads to a result. The result is the consequence of the decision we have made. It is our choice – select the road leading to life or the road leading to death. The decision is your responsibility.

What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence? We all struggle with the burden of meaninglessness. The struggle with meaning is a cry about our perceived value. The battle to find meaning is the battle to find worth.

Hour after hour, day after day, we work our fingers to the bone to feed our hunger. A hunger that never seems to be satisfied. We end up exhausted and unfulfilled. We struggle to find meaning in who we are and what we do. We strive to find meaning, and in the process, lose contact with our value.

God’s completed creation was “very good.” Isolation is a heavy weight, and God did not create humans with the intent of carrying that weight. The experience of separation from God and our fellow man was not part of God's creation plan for humans.

Do you feel like you are living in a shadow and lack substance?  Do you think no one cares about you? So, what is this burden of isolation? How do we recognize it? How do we accept it, and how do we live, so we are not consumed by it?

Life is hard, confusing, troubling, and at times, feels impossible. We all struggle with the burden and pain of isolation, meaninglessness, responsibility, mortality, and spiritual emptiness. Our goal during these times of difficulty is not complacency or comfort; our goal is contentment.