Meaningless!
When God asked King Solomon what “gift” he would like, Solomon answered, “wisdom”. God was so pleased with this answer that He made him the wisest ruler on earth. God rewarded him with wealth and honor. King Solomon was King David’s son. King David who is written about through so much of the Old Testament, as a warrior, great King, sinner, killer of Goliath, shepherd boy and writer of many of the psalms. He loved the Lord. He sought the Lord. When his son Solomon came to power, Solomon sought the Lord as well, in the beginning.
Then we hear him say “2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
WAIT! WHAT happened here to change this man’s mind. Well, a lot happened
But what I am asking you today is, have you ever said these words? Life is hard, sometimes we despair. Sometimes we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are sure if there IS a light, it’s a train. It sounds like Solomon feels this way at this time. The fact is we all get discouraged sometimes. Thankfully, we don’t often fall into the pit and say “Meaningless!” because as Christ followers, life isn’t meaningless! It is the opposite. Yes, we have bad days and some wonderful Christians are plagued by depression, but for the most part, we have that victory over these fears because we KNOW it isn’t meaningless. We know the creator of all things, we know the Son of Man who was crucified for our sins and in doing so he saved us from an eternity in hell, separated from God. So, what about those who do not know him? Look around at the world we live in. Earthquakes, hurricanes, nature seems to be ramping up her attacks on us. Wars and conflicts all over the world. Crazy people trying to push their wacked out ideology on us. People celebrating in the streets when their state gets the right to abortion on demand. People rioting, destroying property. Thugs running rampant in our streets, killing, stealing, looting with no conscience. UGH! It’s all too much to handle. At times it does seem meaningless… and then we feel that gentle voice say “I am with you.”
Is. 41:10 So do not be afraid. I am with you.
Do not be terrified. I am your God.
I will make you strong and help you.
I will hold you safe in my hands.
I always do what is right.
Due 31:6 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
He tells us over and over again in the Bible not to be afraid, because He knew what life would be like and the things we would go through. He knew our frail body’s and minds could not take it.
April 8th there will be an eclipse. If you have paid attention, there are all sorts of people with all sorts of theories out there. From things like, during the darkest point the “Mother ship” will come and take us home. (YIKES!). to the fact that it passes over several cities name “Nineveh” so they profess that it’s a stern warning from God to shape up. (and who could blame Him?). The Bible did use stars and celestial things to speak to His people. I have no idea if April 8th is any kind of symbol from God. And I don’t care. I love the Lord, I have confessed that I am a sinner and I want to be with Him in heaven when my life here is over. Earthly things mean less and less to me as I get older. What I do know is that we just celebrated the joyous resurrection of our Lord. Because He died, taking our sins on himself so they died with Him. He rose again to let us know that we too, can rise again and live with Him forever in heaven. What a glorious day that will be!
Shirlene Peterson