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Alessia Cara is hands-down one of my favorite artists on the planet. I have so much respect for her humility, her artistry, and the down-to-earth way she writes songs about life. On her album, The Pains of Growing, Alessia courageously and vulnerably brings up some questions about God and the meaning of life in two beautifully-written songs, “All We Know” and “7 Days.” Her honesty is a healthy invitation and challenge to you and me to think about the deeper things in life and ask spiritual questions.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the questions Alessia asks in the lyrics of “All We Know” and “7 Days,” and I’ll share my perspective as a Christian about how you and I can find answers to life’s biggest questions in Jesus.

Is there a God and what’s the meaning of life? (“All We Know”)

Is this all there is?
Preachers and rocket ships
Have never quite made any sense of it yet
Paul says, “Let it be”
But the other said, “The test is key”
I say, “Where’s the line between real and fantasy?”

–All We Know, Alessia Cara

All We Know lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

The lyrics of “All We Know” are so true to human experience. At some point, life will push all of us to ask questions about what to believe and what the point of life is. And, it’s normal to feel all types of emotions over not really being sure what those answers are.

The powerful people and systems we trust in falter and fail us. We hear all different types of philosophies and belief systems about God, where we all came from, and how to find purpose in life and we wonder what the truth actually is–or if there even is one truth. We grieve over the suffering in the world and even over our own failures and shortcomings. Relatable?

What if I told you the curiosity and frustration you feel are expressions of your heart longing for relationship with the God who loves you and created you to know Him deeply and personally? His name is Jesus.

Round and ’round and ’round it goes
Heroes fall like dominoes
We try to help it, but we won’t
All we know is that we don’t
‘Round and ’round and ’round we go
The chips will fall, and so it goes
And it’s all out of our control
All we know is that we don’t

-All We Know, Alessia Cara

All We Know lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

At the 2021 SoCal Harvest Crusade event, Pastor Greg Laurie said this quote in his message and it really stood out to me: “The meaning of life is to know the God who created you, and start a friendship with Him, and discover the plan He has for your life. Why are you here on this earth? You’re here to walk with the Lord, and it will give you hope and purpose in this life, and hope for the afterlife.” 

That’s a great summary of what life is all about. It sounds a lot like the truth we see in Acts 17:24-27 and all throughout the Bible. The purpose of life is found in knowing Jesus and living for Him. The answer to the ache, the emptiness, and the confusion we each feel over life in this world is found in knowing Jesus.

I’m intrigued by the lyric in the song, “all we know is that we don’t.” It’s such an honest, well-written expression of a person asking those bigger questions and looking for certainty in the answers. From what the Bible says and my personal experience in following Jesus, though, I believe we can know.

All throughout the Bible, we see God revealing Himself to people and helping them come to faith in tangible, personal ways. He did for me, and I believe Jesus wants to make Himself known to you personally too.

Jesus said, “I Am the way, the truth and the life.” He’s the only way to relationship with God, the only way to forgiveness of sins, the only way to eternal life, and His way is the only true way of life. (John 14:1-6) But we each have to come to believe and accept that truth, and what it means for our lives, personally and individually.

If you’re not a follower of Jesus, here’s a friendly challenge for you. Pray this: “Jesus, if You’re real and Your message is real, would You make Yourself known to me.” What do you have to lose by praying that prayer? I believe God will meet you if you take that step.

If there’s a God, why is there suffering in the world? (“7 Days”)

Oh Mr. Man upstairs
I know you’re tuning in up there, way up there
Would you care to answer my question?
Oh, the land of our taste
The spectacle of cut and paste
That we’ve made
Would you say? Please say
It was worth the seven days

–7 Days, Alessia Cara

7 Days lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

You may have noticed we live in a crazy world and things can kind of seem like a mess down here. So, it’s valid to wonder if God is real and He’s good, why are things such a mess and does He even care? Is He going to do anything to make the world better? Is He just some hands-off, distant deity in the sky that created this world and all these people, and then just peaced out of our lives to watch it all unfold?

Read my blog, Where Is God In Suffering? Lessons From ‘The Shack’ for a deep dive on this topic, but let me give you the short version here.

God didn’t create the chaos and suffering in this world.

God actually created everything in the world as good and people as good. He did, however, give humans a choice of whether to follow His ways or not because God desires sincere relationship and obedience from people that’s based in love for Him. You can’t have real love without choice.

And, unfortunately, instead of using that free will to love God and love our neighbors we sometimes use that free will to sin against God and against our neighbors. That’s how it all started and the cycle continues.

God is not indifferent to the chaos and suffering in this world.

Is this world so broken that it’s beyond redemption? Nope, but we have to realize that redemption is experienced in part now as we individually put our faith in Jesus, let Him transform our lives and use us to serve the world around us. Then, redemption realized in full at the return of Jesus.

I know the second coming of Jesus sounds like some story that belongs in a novel or the next hit apocalyptic movie, but for Christians the return of Jesus is a major part of our faith. The Bible refers to it as our hope.

Christians believe that Jesus will come back to earth from Heaven one day. And, when He does, He will make His home on this earth with His people. He will completely remove all evil and suffering from the world, call all sin and sinful people to account, and rule the entire earth in peace and righteousness as King forever. (Revelation 21:3-5)

Jesus is loving, kind and patient. So for now, He’s delaying His return and that restoration of the world and that judgment of sin, to give people time to turn from their sin and come to know Him before it’s too late. Anyone who doesn’t accept Jesus and receive His gift of forgiveness will  have to face eternal punishment for their own sin, but He doesn’t want that for anyone. (2 Peter 3:1-15 // 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

In the meantime, the world lives in the tension of waiting for restoration, but Jesus won’t let the brokenness in this world won’t persist forever.

Alessia sings: “If there’s a God / Do you think he’s looking down, curled up on his couch right now? / As we fail to figure it out, does he turn down the sound? Is he proud? Are we proud?” From my perspective as a follower of Jesus, I can say for sure that God sees us, knows us, and loves us. He cares about the world and the people He created. He’s actively involved in our lives. He has an eternal plan to restore all things. And I know the “7 days” were so worth it to Him.

How You Can Find Hope and Purpose in Jesus

Let’s wrap with one final thought. All this stuff we’ve been talking about? Hope, purpose, forgiveness, friendship with God, redemption? The Bible says it’s only for people who are followers of Jesus, but it’s accessible to anyone who would sincerely turn from their sin and put their faith in Jesus and follow Him with their life. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 // Luke 9:23-26)

If you want to know more about what it means to be a Christian and how to start a relationship with Jesus, read this blog. You could also try reading the Bible for yourself to learn what the Christian faith teaches (here’s an app that makes it easy) and talking to people in your life who are followers of Jesus. Feel free to message me too if you wanna talk more. 🙂

I hope you’re inspired by Alessia’s songs and this blog to think deeper about questions of faith. I pray that your heart would be open to see Jesus at work in your journey, helping you find the answers in Him.

*** “7 Days” & “All We Know” can be found on Alessia’s album, The Pains of Growing. Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

Let’s Talk: Are there any lyrics in “All We Know” or “7 Days” that you relate to? Why? Are there any new concepts talked about in this blog that are new to you? Discuss this post in the comments below.

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