Perhaps life transformation may not be the best word choice. When God encounters us, we recognize that we are unworthy to meet God. We would recognize sin in our lives and find God's grace so necessary. Some examples of this are Exodus 3:6 and Isaiah 6:5. That repentance, not just outwardly but from the heart, is what I meant by life transformation.
The opposite of this scene may be when we are confident of our lives and are happy with our accomplishments and where we are today. In our pride, God will not force us to draw close to Him. Instead, when God encounters us, we will recognize our need for Him (See Matthew 5:3).
Due to our human-ness, we will become proud (That's what the people of Israel did throughout their journey out of Egypt -- See Exodus and the rest of the Old Testament). They were slaves who just received freedom, but instead of being thankful, they felt more entitled. For example, they complained that they did not have meat and sought to make another god who may please their needs (Exodus 32). Then when the people of Israel became a nation settled in the promised land, they sought a king like the rest of the nations around them to judge and lead wars (1Samuel 8:20).
I share this to say that Christians, too, will continue to struggle with their pride like anyone else, but the difference is that the Holy Spirit would remind them of their sin, and they would accept that. They would humble themselves and repent again. A proud person who would not yield to God would not.
It is good that you are thinking about your eternal life. That can be a starting point for you to converse with God and ask what you should do next. Maybe ask Him to encounter you and help you to gain the perspective He may want for you. I also encourage you to speak with your church peers about this. Ask if others feel the same. Perhaps that may help you with the dialogue and processing this. I would love to hear how that goes.
As I mentor other Christians, here is a story I point to often. I hope this encourages you to press in further to know God than out of fear of going to hell. I shared with you that our lives' perspectives are changed when God encounters us. Our desire changes from wanting to live for ourselves to wanting to live for God (That is the message of Matthew 6:33, to seek the Kingdom of God). From there, as we walk with God, He would direct us to His calling for our lives, that is, our great destiny. This calling, or destiny, is often much bigger than we can imagine, and it is something that only God can provide for us to accomplish.
I am appealing to you to consider that meaningful life as a drive for you to ask God to meet with you.
The story I often share is about Abraham. Many people do not know that Abraham was a wealthy person. He had enough trained/armed soldiers to rescue his nephew from multiple kings (Genesis 14:14. In Genesis 12, God met Abraham. God told Abraham to go to a place where Abraham does not know.
There was no reason for Abraham to go because he had much wealth and everything he may ever need. If Abraham were proud and confident of everything in his life, he probably would have said no. Imagine for yourself: if you had a mansion with servants tending to your every need and money was never a problem, would you have said yes when God told you to leave all that and live in a tent?
It was when Abraham humbled himself and accepted God's call that he became the father of the nation of Israel. He could have certainly died a rich man having satisfied all his earthly desires, but he lived to leave a legacy that was beyond his understanding (at least as of Genesis 12).
Christians are called to similar God-sized callings. You, too, have such a tremendous call. I encourage you to keep on digging and press on to ask God to direct you from here. I am confident that God directed you to ask these kinds of questions now for a reason.
I am here to help. Write back if there's anything I can do for you.
Des Moines, IA
