Praying for God to Fill up My Emptinessনমুনা

Meaninglessness

The Teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes devoted himself to the all-important task of trying to make sense of life in this world. The headline to his review was: “Everything is meaningless, completely meaningless!” He seems to be saying that our lives are like puffs of smoke, like warm breath on a cold day that vanishes quickly, has no permanent impact, and makes no lasting impression. 

This does not exactly sound like good news for those of us who are looking for something to fill the emptiness in our lives. And then it seems to get worse as he continues: 

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

What is wrong cannot be made right. 

What is missing cannot be recovered.

Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

As much as we might hate to hear how messed up this world is, it is good for us to embrace this reality, because doing so has the power to save us from unrealistic expectations that life is somehow going to be different from this for us. Embracing this reality keeps us from being shocked when accidents happen, and body age and relationships rupture. We often react to the nonsensical suffering inherent in this life as if something unexpected and out of the ordinary has happened. But the Teacher seems to be saying that we should expect that life in this broken world will be difficult and disordered. 

We need to hear this because we are resistant to this wisdom; we reject this reality. We think that if we just have the right attitude and do the right things, then a life of ongoing comfort, uninterrupted satisfaction, and achieving our “destiny” is attainable. But there’s something about the condition of this world that keeps us from experiencing a lasting sense of satisfaction. It’s as if there is a crack at the center of the universe that runs through the center of our souls so that any sense of satisfaction we do attain slowly seeps out. It doesn’t last. 

But we do have hope. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and what they accomplished, we know that the frustration and futility of life in this world will not last forever. We know that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” (Romans 8:18). In Christ, our lives will not prove to be like a vanishing breath. Instead, they will produce eternal glory. It won’t be a glory we’ve created for ourselves, but rather a glory that has been shared with us, a glory that is even now transforming us. 

Joined to Christ, there is a weightiness to our lives that the Teacher couldn’t see from his perspective under the sun. This weighty glory is transforming our lives now and will define our lives forever in the new heaven and new earth.

Question to consider: What do you think it looks like for a person to both accept the Teacher’s realistic assessment of life in a world under a curse and anticipate the day when the curse will be gone for good (Revelation 22:3)? How do you think you are doing with this?

Prayer: Lord, I ask you to work in the emptiness of my life, providing me with the perspective I need for living in this world that doesn’t work right. May the ongoing disappointments of this life under the sun turn my heart toward the life to come in the new heaven and new earth. Fill my life with the meaning and purpose that comes only from being united to Jesus Christ by faith.