Cycles of Nature

A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow , There they flow again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4-7

As if we're not depressed enough, Solomon moves from how empty life is to how nothing ever changes, and nothing is really permanent. Using a masterful (and ahead of his time) understanding of nature's cycles, we are made to realize that, whether we are here or not, the world keeps moving along in its daily, monthly, and yearly routines. What real, lasting impact do we really have on this stuff?

The answer: None.

It's important to recognize the perspective of the writer. He uses the phrase in verse three that he will repeat 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes--under the sun. If all we have to consider is the natural world, with its unbroken cycles and our infinitesimal existence in the grand scheme of things, our very existence is empty and meaningless.

To be sure, not an encouraging outlook. But remember, Solomon's pessimism comes from his disconnect with God. When we see only what is under the sun and never what is behind it, we are left with that empty, churning cosmic machine, a great production line running to eternity and producing exactly nothing.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

You and I both know that if there is nothing to look forward to, nothing out there, outside of the natural order, that will somehow validate and give hope to our otherwise hopeless existence, then the only thing left to do is die and be forgotten. But there is good news!

We all feel it. We all have an enduring sense that the universe got it wrong, that things are exactly the reverse of what they should be. Shouldn't the ignorant machine of nature be temporary, and we be permanent? W just know this somehow; as Solomon will soon tell us, we have eternity set in our hearts. We refuse to see ourselves as temporal creatures. We're made for everlasting life, and the clock we live on should run down while we go on forever.

David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth

There is light above the fog of our naturalist, under the sun understanding that gives us hope. It gives our lives meaning. And nothing frees us to live our lives well than to lift our heads out of the fog to see the eternity that has been written in our hearts.