What's the Point?

What's the point of all the pain...of all the sorrow...of all the loss...of all the hurt...of all the stress and worry and fear that surround us? What's the point of it all? Don't you just wonder about it? Don't you just want to ask God to answer so at least we'd know that there was a point...a purpose to it?

Often, as Christians we feel bad questioning God. We tend to believe that we need to just be accepting and meek and obedient...and just take it...like good little soldiers of the faith. Complaining is not in our vocabulary...or at least it shouldn't be, right? We are so very blessed. And yet...so we feel bad that we do...and yet...

I don't think we should feel too bad, though. People in the Bible, giants of the faith, have done their fair share of questioning and complaining and of giving grandiose exclamations of the ridiculousness of it all. For instance, look at how the the writer of Ecclesiastes, attributed to King Solomon, opens his book. 

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:2

These words might seem unsuitable for those of us who profess our faith in the Almighty. I dare say that not many who seek to memorize encouraging Scripture filled with hope and peace to have them as part of their arsenal so they can defend themselves when the enemy attacks, might count Ecclesiastes 1:2 as one of their go-to...at least I don't. These utterings are a declaration of something fiercely raw. They express vulnerability, a boiling point when there's not much left to do but to admit that what we had thought is not so. 

I don't know about you, but when I read the opening lines of a book exclaiming that "everything is meaningless," I don't particularly feel hopeful, warm and fuzzy inside. This is not the kind of hook that makes me want to grab the book, and curl up with it in front of a cozy fire with a warm blanket and socks in a winter night so I can feel protected and safe. Instead, this opening puts me right outside in sub-zero degree temperature, sinking in the snow, naked.

And these words coming from "the Teacher"? That just adds a deeper sense of doom to the whole thing. 

Why? Why is "the Teacher" sounding so defeated? Why is he saying that everything is meaningless? Maybe because it is...

I read that the word translated "meaningless" or even "vanity" in other versions, means "wisp of vapor." Like vapor, the author is telling us that the things of this world are without much substance. How is that possible? All our toiling under the sun is useless...empty. Really? In a way, yes. These are the words of someone who has found out that the material world is not the end goal. The things of this world belong to this world, and as we know, we do not! This world is not our home. We belong to Heaven. Our focus, therefore, needs to be on the things eternal. Our true realm is the spiritual, and as such, that's where our eyes should be. That's where we transcend. That's where we find meaning and substance. That's where God is. That is our true home.

What's the point then? The point, I believe is that we ought to let the world keep its things. All the pain, sorrow, loss, tears and fears will remain here once we've departed for our final destination. They were part of the refining fire, the furnace that burned all the impurities and allowed the gold to come out. They were part of the cross that everyone must carry along with Jesus as He redeems us through the blood of His sacrifice. While we journey through the emptiness of this world, gratitude for the blessings sees us through, always remembering not to get too attached. 

Therefore, let's live for eternity. Let's not worry too much because this life is but a vapor. God can take our questioning. He is bigger than our complaining and anguish and our neediness. He welcomes it as part of our growing, and He invites us to walk with Him as He shows us how eternity has already begun.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5: 11