Elemental: S2- Day 16

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

Hey, writer of Ecclesiastes… What is this you say has been heard?

Well…

The book of Ecclesiastes is, to be frank, very depressing. It begins with a simple premise, “Everything is meaningless… a complete waste of time.” (1:2) If you think it will soften from there, guess again. King Solomon seems to admit, “All of my wisdom is a chasing after the wind.” (1:17)  

The writer bounces from one disappointing observation to another, all meaningless, foolishness, a waste. He finds his best work ridiculous, food and drink worthless, wealth and treasure pointless. He notices the major downer that good men suffer while the wicked skate by unscathed. There’s no figuring it out, no merit to what happens here on earth:

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (9:11)

Why is Solomon so down and depressed? Because we’re all going to die. Worse still, we’ll be forgotten shortly after death. (1:11; 2:16) If this isn’t bad enough, this author seems to question that anything happens after death, even to good people. (3:19-21; 12:7)

So, this tortured, depressed soul comes to the end of the book, and what is the conclusion? In chapter 12, he warns us to be careful because there is no end to books and too much study will wear us out—or, don’t even try to figure things out, it’s a waste of time. (v12) So again, his conclusion?

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. (12:13)

Huh? Even though we can’t make sense of things, fear God anyway? Trust God anyway? Yup, trust God anyway.

This is the essence of our pursuit of the incomprehensible God. On days that make sense and those filled with confusion, trust God. When our carefully packaged conclusions come under fatal attack from personal pain, trust God. When we understand and when we don’t, trust God anyway.

1. How much do you struggle with depression and anxiety?
2. When you’re anxious, is there someone you have found helpful to talk with?
3. What most commonly causes you to distrust?