Bored

There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that cannot be filled by any created thing, but by God alone made known through Jesus Christ.

Blaise Pascal

All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

That which has been is that which will be,

And that which has been done is that which will be done.

So there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"?

Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.

There is no remembrance of earlier things;

And also of the later things which will occur,

There will be for them no remembrance

Among those who will come later still.

Ecclesiastes 1:8-11

Life is boring. It's the same thing over and over. Do you recognize the phrase "There's nothing new under the sun"? Well there you go. Not only is life meaningless, not only does nothing ever change, but this meaningless monotony is boring, unfulfilling, and only leaves us frustrated. Nothing is satisfying, nothing is new, and nothing is remembered.

I heard these words from a student this weekend, talking about life in a small town. "There's nothing to do here!" he said. His frustration echoes the voices from centuries past, crying out from their emptiness, searching for meaning and purpose where meaning cannot be found and purpose is like a soap bubble--easily shattered.

We could compare [Solomon] to a spider in an old European fable. It descended one day on a single thread from a barn's lofty rafters and alighted near the corner of a window. From there it wove its web. This corner of the barn was very busy and soon the spider waxed fat and prospered. One day as he surveyed his web, he noticed the strand that reached up into the unseen. He had forgotten its significance and, thinking it a stray thread, he snapped it. Instantly, his whole world collapsed around him.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

Without the significant thread that gives us hope and supplies meaning to to our otherwise meaningless existence under the sun, our world is ultimately boring, frustrating, and easily forgotten. Take a few moments and thank the Lord for supplying us a perspective on life that satisfies our deepest longings and fills the giant vacuum in our souls.

This and other posts in this series on Ecclesiastes are inspired by my daily reading in David Jeremiah's book, Searching for Heaven on Earth. I recommend picking up a copy and reading it for yourself.