Doomed to Final Frustration

To borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, every worldly pleasure you are pursuing is “doomed to final frustration.” These include sinful pleasures and lawful ones. One day, they will either fail to live up to your expectations, or death will come knocking on your door and steal them from your hands.

This final frustration means two things. First, we should immediately stop pursuing sinful pleasures because not only will they fail to provide what we hope they will, but they also put our souls at risk. Second, we do not necessarily need to stop pursuing the lawful pleasures of this temporary world, but we must keep them in proper perspective because they, too, will one day let us down.

There is only one who should be our ultimate and final pursuit, and that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Every other temporary pursuit should serve this end. We will find ourselves easily shaken until we stake everything in the King and his unshakable Kingdom. This warning may seem insignificant when things are good, and we are self-satisfied, but if we make worldly pursuits our highest aim, we will find ourselves without sure footing once the trouble comes.

Looking around, we see countless people pursuing what will not last. If we look within ourselves, we see some of the same, even as believers, but the things of earth are passing away. Most people are still trying to build their Kingdom on sinking sand.

By human standards, some earthly kingdoms are noble and good, while others are wretched and evil. But we must never forget, as William Law once said, “If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”

We serve a God of resplendent glory and goodness. Why would we pursue anything else? He laid down his life to forgive our sins and save our souls; why would we not lay our lives down for him? In doing so, not only will the final frustration not be able to touch us, but the contentment we will find as we sojourn in this troubled land will be a beacon of godliness that the Lord will use to light this world. In this, we will fulfill our calling as he uses us to bring glory to himself, and we enjoy him forever.

-D. Eaton