Finding Your Way

The book of Ecclesiastes seems to be very apropos for this season in our world. Several verses have stood out to me in my recent reading:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die… a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance… a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” (3:1-5 ESV).
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (1:2-3).
“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (2:11).

This is a time when many things are being stripped away. Perhaps we are learning what is vain and what really matters. Perhaps we are finding out what actually forms our identity. If we find our meaning in our careers, what happens when we can’t go to work? If our value is in our achievements in education or sports, who are we when we can’t do those things anymore? Even if we find our identity in our relationships, as valuable as those relationships are, where do we turn when we lose them?

It’s not surprising that people turn to drugs, alcohol, pornography, or other addictive behaviors to try to fill the holes or at least numb the sense of loss. We all like to avoid the difficulty of realigning our worldview when everything familiar and comfortable is taken away. It’s painful to discover that the things we placed so much value on can disappear without notice. And most of us have lost multiple things we valued. A video I watched described it as a kind of culture shock. We have to adapt to a new way of life while also mourning the old way.

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While many people view religion as a crutch or a fantasy, those of us who do have faith understand it to be a different perspective on reality. While the world focuses on the here and now and each person is looking out for their own interests, we Christians remember that this world is not our permanent home. We look forward to the day when all things will be made new and we’ll no longer have to live in a world broken by sin. We still mourn the things we’ve lost here, but we do not mourn as those who have no hope for eternal life. If this world is indeed all there is then indeed “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). But if there is more to come, we should “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Will we realign our priorities according to the world’s constantly changing standards or according to God’s standard? Will we find our identity in things that will eventually fall away or in the One who created us and gives us eternal life and value in Christ?

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come… and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it… The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:1, 7, 13).