Lately I've been really enjoying a commentary of sorts on Ecclesiastes by Charles Swindol called, "Living on the Ragged Edge." Being so intensely unhappy at work these last two years has really sent me searching for the source of joy in life. Through this study in Ecclesiastes I've been following along with Solomon in discovering where joy is not found, namely, "under the sun." I feel that on a smaller scale I've looked into all the same obvious places as the ancient king, sexuality, wealth, wisdom, accomplishment, alcohol. I discovered the joylessness of each and how that in itself has driven me back to God, again, just like the ancient king.
I think I've come to two conclusions.
First, enjoyment of things in this life is a gift of God. He enables men to enjoy this life or not. According to Solomon, and the biographies of thousands who follow after him, a man can have everything or nothing and experience the same joyless despair in life that prompts one to ask, "Why was I ever born?" Yet you can have nothing, or presumably, everything and be happy. The difference is whether God has granted you the privilege of finding happiness in your circumstances. Apparently, life for every man whether ancient, modern, or post-modern, proceeds on a similar path that ultimately leads each one of us toward the same end. Men of every generation are providentially directed toward the discovery of the goodness and sovereignty of God. Along the way many, or perhaps most, are turned aside by their own foolish unbelief. God decides whether and how much of what pleasures there are under the sun each of us is going to truly enjoy. Thus the enjoyment of life's pleasures is a gift of God and one of His many means of drawing us all to Himself.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that here is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. that everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction i all his toil– this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
Again, I'm extremely unhappy at work. God has used this to bring home some very profound lessons. I'm glad. I'm also grateful for the happiness He's granted me in family life at this same time. If it were not for the great enjoyment I have of my wife, son and grandson I think I would have gone nuts with depression. So here's how I'm praying these days.
"Lord, thank you for your providence and wisdom. Please restore to me the joy of my work. Please make the day of my retirement something I shed tears about, not because it is a final release from a long painful incarceration, but because of the joy it has been to be a teacher, and because of the refining work you done in me through the experience. So, if you can, make it so that my work stands out from those who do not honor you. If you can, bless me with fruitfulness while by grace I do good and in so doing show yourself strong on behalf of those who honor you. And in the process, grant me joy in my work. Yet, not my will but thine be done. I would not swap one gram of growth in grace for any amount of simple earthy happiness. I trust you, O God.."
The second conclusion is simple and obvious to all who know the Lord by faith. It is the lesson of Hebrews 11. God does not promise to straighten everything out before the end of this life. Many injustices remain uncorrected, and many promises of blessing remain unfulfilled on the day of each saint's death.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Hebrews 11:13
In the end, a man is but a bit of dust and water endowed with life from God. By faith I acknowledge that about myself and will not presume to advise God on how or when to act. By faith I know that only He is truly good, and truly wise. In His goodness He has called me to himself and endowed me with a capacity to enjoy him. All the happiness he has given me under the sun are meant to point my heart to Him.
One day I will have no need of happiness from my labor. I will have no way to measure my fruitfulness and no need to derive pleasure from it. I'll have no wealth to hoard or earn. I'll have only one set of clothes, a white robe with no pockets for money or personal effects and no shoes at all. I'll have no address or property to concern myself with or preen over, no vehicles to maintain nor to use to reflect my status. I'll have no status. No family to either take pride in or worry about. Whatever unresolved issues remained at the time of my death will be lost from my consciousness like mere dreams. I'll be in the presence of the author of justice and His glory will completely occupy my soul. Presumably my life will be consumed in worship alone. Whatever there is in the City of God for me to do, it will be done purely as an act of worship.
No comments:
Post a Comment