Is life an accident?

Kids Talk About God

Is life an accident?

By Carey Kinsolving and friends

(Part 2 of 2)

“If life were an accident, why would we be here on the Earth?” asks Jenna, age 6.

The “why” question is what separates humans from animals and other living things. Animals don’t ask “Why?” They don’t question their destiny or pose existential questions. Dogs don’t long to be cats. They instinctively chase cats.

“Why?” is reserved for human beings. We long for purpose, meaning and destiny. Without it, we turn into mush.

Kill desire, and we languish in apathy and indifference. People who express feelings of hopelessness are sent to counselors. Isn’t this the height of irony to those who think life is an accident? If we’re just accidents spinning through the universe, why should we have purpose?

“There is a reason for everything!” says Whitney, 9. “God doesn’t make mistakes, and we aren’t. We know God made us for a good reason. God loves you!”

What is it about movies like “Braveheart,” “Chariots of Fire” and “Gladiator” that stir men’s hearts? Women flocked to “The Princess Bride,” “Gone With the Wind” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” Why? As author John Eldredge says in his book “Dare to Desire,” men long for a heroic battle, an adventure and a beauty to rescue. Women long “to be pursued and fought for, to be swept up in a great adventure, to be the beauty.”

“In the long run, it doesn’t matter how well we perform or what we accomplish — a life without heart is not worth living,” Eldredge writes. “To lose heart is to lose everything.”

The Bible says God has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). People who listen to their hearts will hear the question “Why?” Those brave enough to follow this inner voice will find God.

Those who don’t listen to their hearts live contradictory lives. No one gets out of bed in the morning without some purpose for living. If I’m just a blob of cells that came together by accident, why not stay in bed and become a bigger blob?

“God created all things on purpose,” says Carlee, 7. “He wanted something to enjoy, and that thing is you and me.”

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He (God) delights in his way,” wrote King David (Psalm 37:23). God created us for his good pleasure, but he also made us to enjoy fellowship with him.

The accidental or evolution worldview can never satisfy our deepest desires. Many who embrace this worldview cast off all restraints. Why not? If there’s no purpose and no God, why not go for max pleasure?

King David, the man after God’s own heart, had a radically different view of pleasure from the one we see portrayed in the media. Speaking of God, he wrote: “You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Pleasure with the right purpose confirms our reason for living and fulfills our deepest desires. People who live as atheistic hedonists settle for too little pleasure. God wants to take that deep cavern in our souls and fill it to the point where it overflows with joy, purpose and spirituality, which Jesus described as rivers of living water.

We can’t have purpose in life without the source of life, says Aaron, 10: “God created you for a good reason because he loves you.

Just imagine when you are older, and you have only one son. Would you give him up for people who sin? God did that for us.”

“Kids Talk About God” is written and distributed by Carey Kinsolving. To access free, online “Kids Color Me Bible” books, “Mission Explorers” videos, a new children’s musical, and all columns in a Bible Lesson Archive, visit www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. To read journey-of-faith feature stories written by Carey Kinsolving, visit www.FaithProfiles.org.