“For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 6:12)
In our study of Ecclesiastes, we are searching with Solomon for the meaning and purpose in life. Whereas in Eden, when God made humanity, meaning and purpose were imprinted on our hearts and written across the skies. But our sin brought vanity and meaninglessness to the world. And the vanity of our sin has really done a number on obscuring life down here.
It’s almost as if meaning and purpose have been hidden from us. A survey I read says 70% of Americans feel a need to find purpose and meaning in life. So, we look for fulfillment from things or people or government, but nothing seems to work. It’s like we’re chasing after the wind. Just when we think we’ve found the one thing we are looking for, enjoyment of life slips through our grasp. But that’s why Solomon calls himself Quoheleth…the searcher. And we’re joining him on his journey.
April 4, 2000 is a day that lives in infamy…well, maybe not infamy, but it wasn’t a good day – especially if you were investing heavily in technology stocks. It was in the exciting days of the dot-com bubble. Remember? Just a month before, the tech-heavy NASDAQ had reached the peak of 5,132.52. Dot coms were paying millions of dollars for 30 second ads during the Super Bowl. Things were great.
Until April 4. That morning, by chance, several multi-million dollar sell orders for major technology players happened to process at the same time. Things were fine, but people freaked out, panic ensued, everyone sold their stock, and dot coms became dot bombs.
Things are not always as they seem. The grass on the other side of the fence isn’t always greener. That’s what Solomon talks about in chapters six and seven of Ecclesiastes. Things can be going great one minute, and the next we’re in trouble. Conversely, we can find ourselves in what looks to be a terrible situation and find out that we’re right where God wants us.
Solomon tells us that prosperity can let us down. Conversely, adversity is not always bad. That’s the way it goes down here, under the sun.
Join us Sunday, and we’ll discuss it together.
