Questions Born of Frustration
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Saturday 22nd November 1997
Questions Born of Frustration
(Ecclesiastes 6:7-12 NIV) All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet
his appetite is never satisfied. {8} What advantage has a wise man
over a fool? What does a poor man gain by knowing how to conduct
himself before others? {9} Better what the eye sees than the roving of
the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. {10}
Whatever exists has already been named, and what man is has been
known; no man can contend with one who is stronger than he. {11} The
more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?
{12} For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and
meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him
what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
When we are frustrated with life we ask things like "What's the
use?", "I'll never amount to anything - how can I?" , "What have I
got out of life - really?' "Where has my education got me, I would
be better off on the dole.?" etc. These questions are inevitably
self-centred. Generally we ask them as a sophisticated way of
letting off steam. Solomon barrages the listener with a string of
barbed and dismal interrogatives. It seems like the ranting of a
bitter man. Yet from an "under the sun" perspective these questions
do make sense. If there is no heaven, hell or afterlife then what
advantage does the wise man have over the fool? Its all for nothing
in the end anyway.
As Solomon thrashes about in his sea of questions the chief thread
seems to be that of powerlessness before life. 'No man can contend
with one who is stronger than he." It is impossible then to contend
with the rich or with the powerful or with the King. And it is
impossible for the King to contend with death and with God. The King
is Solomon and he is realising that even his great power is for
nothing when faced with death.
"The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit
anyone?" I think we see this on the Internet. The enormous volume of
information creates a feeling of meaninglessness and flux. The
trivial and the sleazy bombard us as much as the good and the worthy
and in the whirlwind of information meaning seems lost. As T.S. Eliot
put it: "Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the
wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost
in information?"
" For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and
meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him
what will happen under the sun after he is gone?" Who knows? Who can
tell? The ironclad future mocks us all. We are ignorant and blind
unable to see a second further ahead. You don't believe me? Have you
ever lost your work because your computer crashed - if you had been
able to see just one second into the future would you have clicked on
save? This trivial example tells us how little we can see ahead, how
ignorant we are and how helpless against Time. Solomon loved building
vast projects but had no assurance they would be there after he
was gone or even be maintained. The future mocked him and was beyond
his control and he was frustrated by it.
The only cure for all this existential frustration is a solid trust
in a good God and His providence. We do not know what the future
holds but we do know Who holds the future.
Our God, our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come
Our shelter from the stormy blast
And our eternal home.
Prayer:
Lord we trust you and bless you and praise Your mighty Timeless hand
that cares for our souls. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternitymag.com/
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