Desperately in search of the meaning of life? - 9 March 2017
Hennie Symington
What profit has the worker from that in which he labours? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. … Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
Often in the course of our lives, we are tempted to despair along with the poet of Ecclesiastes, at the apparent meaninglessness of life, while at the same time acknowledging that God has made everything good and beautiful.
Yes, indeed, God’s ways are higher than our ways. We as mortals often wonder at the way of the world, the whats, the whys and the wherefores. That is the price we pay or the reward for having a “concept” of eternity in our hearts. That is what makes us – as we read in Psalm 8 – almost like the angels – but not quite!
So how do we as almost angels deal with the seasons of life?
Sometimes we find life exciting, and dynamic, and feel on top of the world. At other times we just want to escape the situation in which we find ourselves, and like King David we too wish wecould fly away with wings like a dove. However, to understand how we deal with change and transition we need to be aware of the seasons of life. If we do not understand that it is normal for seasons to come and go, we may draw the wrong conclusions about what is happening in our lives, or the reasons for it.
Prayer: Oh Lord, remind us time and again of the “incredible lightness of being” so that we may remember to rejoice at the wonder of being alive. Amen