Making sense of life

I was just looking Roy's Facebook page and seeing glimpses of some moments Roy had when he was still here on earth. I was looking at the photos of Roy when he was young, the family time that he had, the trip to Taiwan with his friends.. I can imagine all the fun, laughter and enjoyable moments he must have had. It suddenly felt surreal to me again that he is no longer here with us. 

I am thinking right now that we are all people trying to make sense of life. Why am I here on earth? What is the meaning of life? I think everyone, at one point of their life, must have asked questions relating to life's meaning. I remember when I was young, probably in secondary school, I had a thought: What if I wasn't born? It was a weird thought, a weird feeling. I imagine not being born would probably be like when I am sleeping, being unconscious, being nothing. Sure, I would miss out on the fun, but maybe it wasn't all so fun anyways. On the other hand, I would also be able to evade the pains of life. I wouldn't have to go through ANYTHING, that isn't too bad right?

In that thought lies a deeper problem. I wasn't so sure of why I even existed. A part of me wished I wasn't even born. I was already a Christian, but maybe I wasn't so convicted of my own belief. Perhaps I wasn't so satisfied with life. Or maybe it was problems in my life that were starting to surface that caused me to have that thought. In that thought that went through my small mind revealed my need to make sense of my life. I admit, I can't speak for everybody. But tell me if I am wrong. Tell me if you do not feel the need to make sense of your life.      

How do people usually make sense of their life? I think that many people actually avoid making complete sense of their life. It sounds weird, because if there is a need to make sense of life, wouldn't one try to fulfill that need? But maybe that need is just too hard to fulfill, that people settle for less. We all try to fill our lives with activities, people, achievements, stability. By working towards these things, it gives us some sort of meaning to our lives. "My purpose of life is to bring happiness to the people around me." "I want to just live life to the fullest." "I want to get a good job and live a stable life" "I want to help the underprivileged, the poor, the suffering, and make the world a better place." As a Christian, I believe most of these things are not really bad in itself. God created relational people who are meant to have relationships. God gave us the intelligence and resources to create activities that we can take pleasure in. (I love to play table tennis ^^) It is good to help those in need and the Bible encourages us to do so as well. The Bible, however, does speak against seeking some achievements like wealth and power. 

BUT do these things really allow us to make sense of our lives? One big question that bugs me is in regards to our origin. If it wasn't God who created us, then where do we all come from? How did it all started? If one is an evolutionist, then he has to ask himself, where did the first bacteria come from? Wait, how did the earth even come to form in the first place? How can SOMETHING come out of NOTHING? That doesn't sound very right. Science is working on it, but still unable to establish a reasonable explanation. Then again, maybe the question of our origin doesn't bug you at all.

Now, I am much more convicted of what I believe in. Last year, after I entered into university, some questions that I had about Christianity at the deepest part of my mind surfaced again. I asked, and I got some answers, but more questions arose and I asked again. Through these, I gained a deeper understanding of Christianity and I found myself stronger in my faith. I realized that Christianity answers the important questions of life and helps me to make sense of it all.

So, how do you make sense of your life?