Optical illusions are fascinating. From the illusionary designs of MC Escher to those squiggly line prints with some hidden image. Illusions can also be frustrating. You look and look and look, but just can't figure it out.
How about the classic lost in the desert movie? Someone with tattered clothing and dying of thirst crawls through the sand towards a mirage thinking it's water. Of course, it's only heat waves that appear as rippling water.
The endless cycle of everyday life can seem illusory. As if, no hope exists of any break or improvement in the monotony of the mundane. That's when we need to see beyond the illusion.
Scripture
There is a tragedy that I have seen under the sun. It is a terrible one for mortals. God gives one person riches, wealth, and honor so that he doesn’t lack anything he wants. Yet, God doesn’t give him the power to enjoy any of them. Instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is pointless and is a painful tragedy.[vss 1-2]
Suppose a rich person wasn’t satisfied with good things [while he was alive] and didn’t even get an honorable burial [after he died]. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it [still] would have been better for him to have been born dead. A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good—don’t we all go to the same place?[vss 3-6]
Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never satisfied. What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What advantage does a poor person have in knowing how to face life? It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless. [It’s like] trying to catch the wind.[vss 7-9]
Whatever has happened [in the past] already has a name. Mortals are already known for what they are. Mortals cannot argue with the one who is stronger than they. The more words there are, the more pointless they become. What advantage do mortals gain from this? Who knows what may be good for mortals while they are alive, during the brief, pointless days they live? Mortals pass by like a shadow. Who will tell them about their future under the sun? [vss 10-12]
(Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 GW) [Context– Ecclesiastes 6]
Key phrase—Better to look at what is in front of you than... looking for what you want
[bctt tweet="Better to look at what is in front of you than... looking for what you want"]
Digging Deeper...
Review the Scriptures above as you answer the following questions
What is seen and lamented upon as a tragedy?
What common pursuit seems to elude people living on the earth?
What seems to be like "trying to catch the wind"? Why do you think this expression is used so often in Ecclesiastes?
In all that's said about "pointless" talk, who do you think is stronger than us "mortals"?
Reflection...
One of the difficulties in reading through Ecclesiastes is how it reinforces a sense of hopelessness to life. Many people throughout the world struggle with hopelessness. Some take their own lives because they lack hope.
Yet, throughout refugee camps and impoverished or oppressed areas people can be found who hang tenaciously on a hope that things will get better. These are people who have little to nothing to hold in their hands, and who don't know if they will eat much in a given day.
It is often affluent people who struggle most with depression and suicidal thoughts. Why?
Every person wants meaning in life, even those most cynical among us. We need hope more than things. We want significance in life rather than fame and fortune.
When we find ourselves lost in the illusion of hopelessness, it's time to look to the One above it all—God.
Make it personal...
Read through the Scripture text again to consider and answer the following questions
What one thing seems to lead to a sense of hopelessness in your life?
How do you cope with the routine of life? Do you like it or struggle with it?
What are ways you find solace and hope within the mundane routines in life?
How do you see beyond hopelessness and cynicism, or are you able to do so?