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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