I am currently reading The Road Back to You and reading through the Bible chronologically with a group of ladies on facebook. There have been passages in both this week's Bible reading and The Road Back to You that echo the truths spoken in Ecclesiastes.
This week we look at Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
I said to myself, "See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.
I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.
For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.
As was alluded to in 1:11, life is transient. No one who came before is remembered. Our life is but a vapor.
An interesting thought. We are here today, gone tomorrow. While we may pass on knowledge, information or some "discovery," Nothing is new, and we will not be remembered.
This can seem like a sad, disheartening thought, but I think there is hope and truth here. We can gain nothing in this life and on this earth. We have nothing to offer this world. The world is in constant motion, but all is the same. Trivialities may change/grow/develop, but life functions in a cosmic rhythm of circularity.
In Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 we learn that Knowledge is Painful. I love the illustration that my teaching pastor Lloyd Shadrach gave on Sunday. When you go to a funeral, children are the people who can still smile, play, laugh and sing. They do not have a capacity to understand grief or pain. They do not realize or fully understand (even when it's been explained) that the person in the casket is not coming back. I feel grief over these hypothetical children's lack of knowledge that Dad's not coming home, just typing that sentence. This is because as we get older and experience more our capacity for grief and pain grows.
There are 3 truth's in life that we all find it hard to swallow.
1. There is something wrong with EVERYTHING.
Every happy high point in life is marked by grief or tragedy. I think of my life now...I have
the incredible opportunity to stay at home with my son, and it has given me immense
opportunity to grow closer to the Lord. The opportunity came about because a terrible
car accident rocked my world and changed my life circumstances. IMMENSE JOY
along side grief.
2. There is always something missing
Nothing in life is person, and in all situation we will find something missing.
3. I cannot do anything to fix it.
When we can embrace these truths we will be able to rise above them. We must live them and realize the truth they possess in this world but know that Christ has the final say and has brought judgment to all things.
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