When All Is Said And Done

I have struggled with how to convey what I want to say in this blogpost.

When all is said and done

And everyone is gone

Lord You're really all I want

When the best the world has

Just leaves me feeling numb

Lord You're really all I want

All that I long for all that I hope for

Is just that sense of You coming near

All that my heart is hungry to have is

Just one more touch from Your loving hand

When all is said and done

Lord You're all I want

These are from ‘When All Is Said And Done’ by Tommy Walker. I have a thing for song lyrics because I love all things music and song lyrics say a lot of deep and profound things.

Today, I found myself on some lady’s Instagram page. I don’t know her, but the Instagram Explore page literally encourages you to binge on people’s lives, lol. From her page, you can get a glimpse of what her life is like; she has suffered loss and disappointment back to back. When she’s just starting to recover from one loss or disappointment, another one comes. However, regardless of what life has thrown at her, she’s proclaiming God's name on her page.

There were a lot of people in the Bible that had similar stories like that, e.g. the early believers. The early believers faced one persecution after another. Their story wasn’t one of glamour, it was painful. For one, their nation was being ruled by a wicked government. The religious leaders hated them. They were in and out of prisons. They were flogged. They were hanged, stoned to death, John was even boiled in hot oil. Yet, with every opportunity they had, they preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. Clearly, there is something that is in Jesus that made the early believers forget all the torture and sorrow they were going through.

And that’s because the world has nothing to offer and everything is found in God.

I was 9 years old when I realised this. I had just read the Left Behind Books and it was a rude awakening. The fact that rapture could take place at any time and all the dreams and aspirations I had for my future would just not matter anymore. Regardless of rapture, the fact that someone could be on top of the world today and be irrelevant, or worse, even dead the next day just exposes the vanity of this life.

As I’ve grown, the vanity of life has been more glaring to me. After every accomplishment, I still felt more emptiness. When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to go to university, and even after getting into the university I wanted, all I wanted was just to be done with university. Each accomplishment made me feel numb which made me want to accomplish more, hoping that maybe the next one would make me feel fulfilled. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes knew this so well.

Most people are in this loop. They think that achieving something great would give them fulfillment. But once they cross that bridge, it’s back to square one with even more emptiness.

Not even relationships with people can give fulfillment because the truth is that human relationships are flawed, every single one of them. My closest friends have disappointed me and probably will continue to disappoint me through no fault of their own. I’m sure I have disappointed them as well.

The only place I have found fulfillment is in Jesus Christ. It’s just so beautiful to know that upon all your flaws, someone finds you worthy to be His. And not just that. He’s fully committed to your relationship with Him. Every moment, every day, I know I have someone who I can rely on.

With Jesus, I have peace. Peace that this world can’t give. Peace that passes all understanding. Peace in the face of a pandemic.

With Jesus, I have joy. In His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand, pleasure forevermore. I know this so well.

With Jesus, I know I am loved and I am able to love people the same way. I’m never scared of giving someone 100% of myself and them not reciprocating because I am coming from an abundance of love. Jesus gives more than a 100% of Himself to us.

With Jesus, I know that I am accepted. I don’t have to pretend for Him to love me. He made me this way and loves all my quirks and weirdness. I don’t need anyone else to accept me.

In Jesus, I find fulfillment.

You can have all these and even more with Jesus.