The Problem of Life: Waking Up to the Wonder We’ve Forgotten
Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote:
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes—
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
We live in a world crammed with the sacred, pulsing with divine whispers. But most of us are plucking blackberries—distracted, busy, entertained, consumed by what’s easy and temporal. We settle for what we can see and touch and taste, all the while suspecting that there must be more.
And there is.
All of us feel it at some point. A moment of transcendent beauty. A longing we can’t explain. A sunset that silences us. A song that reaches deeper than words. These are not accidents. These are glimpses—divine breadcrumbs leading us toward something more, someone more.
The aching for joy and purpose in our lives is not something to suppress or brush off as wishful thinking. C.S. Lewis called us “half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.” Like children making mud pies in a slum, we can’t imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. In truth, we are far too easily pleased.
Our culture bombards us with counterfeit versions of joy. Money, pleasure, security, influence—they promise the world but often leave us emptier than before. Like castaways drinking saltwater, we find that each indulgence only intensifies the thirst. The flower that captivated us with its beauty withers when we try to possess it. Because it was never meant to be the source—it was pointing to the source.
This is the “problem of life”: not that meaning or fulfillment is impossible to find, but that we look in all the wrong places. We chase after the echoes and miss the voice.
But what if we chose to live differently?
What if, instead of settling for the world as it presents itself, we became the kind of people who take off our shoes before the burning bush? What if we dared to believe there really is a world behind the world—a spiritual dimension infused with glory, pulsing beneath the surface of our routines?
To live this way is to refuse the disenchanted story of our age—that we are accidents of nature, floating on a dying rock in a cold universe. It’s to believe that behind music and math, behind laughter and tears, behind beauty and birth and even suffering, is the fingerprint of a Creator. A God who is not distant or uninterested but has been calling us home all along.
And here's the good news: this longing we feel, this aching for something greater, is not foolishness—it’s faith. It’s the thread that connects us to the One who made us. “Our hearts are restless,” Augustine wrote, “until they find rest in Thee.”
To know true joy is to come alive to both God and ourselves. These two quests—knowing God and knowing who we are—are inseparably intertwined. As John Calvin said in the opening of his Institutes, “Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”
Yet in our modern pursuit of self—through self-discovery, self-actualization, and self-expression—we’ve too often lost sight of God. And without God, our quest for identity collapses under the weight of its own questions. We try to build a self without reference to our Creator, and the result is confusion, anxiety, and aimlessness.
Conversely, in many religious settings, we’ve also neglected the self. We talk much of God, theology, and doctrine (as we should!), but we rarely stop to ask, “What does it mean to be human in light of all this? Who am I, really?”
The answer lies in restoring both pursuits. When we seek to know ourselves in light of God, we find clarity. And when we seek God while being honest about ourselves—our desires, our fears, our brokenness, our beauty—we find transformation.
The cross itself is the clearest picture of this divine-human connection. Jesus didn’t die just to prove a point about God; he died for us. “For Christ also suffered once for sins… to bring you to God,” says 1 Peter 3:18. He came not only to redeem the cosmos, but to restore you. Not just to reconcile the world, but to give you joy. As he said in John 15:11: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Imagine that: the joy of Jesus himself—eternal, unbreakable joy—planted in your life. A joy not built on circumstances, but on connection.
So where does this leave us?
It leaves us with a choice.
We can keep going as we’ve been—living distracted, dulled to the divine, content with spiritual fast food. Or we can wake up. We can listen. We can saunter and gaze. We can learn to see the world as it really is: enchanted, alive, trembling with meaning.
The philosopher Ron Dart says modern people are “haunted by transcendence.” We’re cross-pressured—pulled between the skepticism of the age and the ancient ache in our souls. The question is not whether we feel the pull, but whether we’ll follow it.
Maybe there is a world inside the wardrobe, as Lewis imagined. Maybe beauty is from somewhere. Maybe the whisper you hear in the wind is real.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27).
May we become the kind of people who don’t drown out that voice with our own noise. May we learn to listen. To behold. To follow. Because when we do, we don’t just find God—we find ourselves. And in finding both, we discover the answer to the problem of life.
Sermon Series
Pastors, if you're looking for a series that deeply resonates with your congregation while tackling some of life’s most profound questions, consider diving into The Problem of Life.
It provides a roadmap for understanding the human condition through the lens of God’s truth. It uncovers universal questions your church members are asking, like, “What is the purpose of my life?” or “How do I face pain, suffering, and death?” These topics will allow you to share God’s answers to their deepest longings, offering both comfort and direction during challenging times. Equip your congregation to better understand not just themselves, but also how to live in a broken yet beautiful world with hope and purpose.
Get a Free Church Kit
To make this sermon series even more engaging and easy to implement, a free church kit is available! This kit is tailored to help pastors and church leaders bring the themes of The Problem of Life to life within their congregations.
Here’s what’s included and why it’s essential for sermon planning:
- Sermon Outlines
The kit contains detailed sermon outlines based on the book’s principles. These outlines save you time in preparation, offering a clear roadmap while allowing you to add your personal style. Each outline weaves in scripture references, book themes, and practical application points to connect with your audience. - Customizable Graphics and Slides
Keeping your congregation visually engaged is vital, and the kit provides high-quality sermon series graphics and presentation slides. These are perfect for promoting the series on social media, during services, and within your church’s communication materials. - Small Group Discussion Guides
Encourage deeper engagement by coupling the sermon series with small group discussions. The kit includes guides to spark meaningful conversations, helping your church community connect with one another as they process the book’s themes together. - Social Media Assets and Promotional Materials
The kit is designed to help you promote the series across various platforms, making it easy to invite your congregation and others to participate. These assets provide ready-made tools to spread the message widely.
Why This Kit Is a Game-Changer for Your Church
The church kit equips your team with everything you need to seamlessly launch and run the series while fostering engagement from both your congregation and the wider community. It ensures your messages are cohesive, compelling, and supported visually, leaving your team free to focus on pastoring and leading.
We're excited to offer this kit free with any purchase of The Problem of Life. To learn more about the kit or to claim your kit, visit this link. This resource is a powerful complement to your pastoral ministry, creating opportunities to teach, inspire, and equip your congregation for faithful living in a broken world.
Make The Problem of Life part of your sermon series, and watch your church be transformed by its exploration of what it means to truly live in the light of God’s truth!
