Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

Ecclesiastes is becoming one of my favorite books in the Bible. I think it has a unique resonance with our postmodern culture. I like to think of it as the postmodern epistle. Here are some random reflections.
Mirage
1:8--"We are never satisfied." I think that most people believe in "the mirage." A mirage is an optical illusion sometimes seen in the desert or hot pavement that appears to be a pool of water.
Some people live their lives hoping and expecting to arrive as some place in the not too distant future where they are satisfied. But I think it's a mirage. We'll never be satisfied. We'll never arrive. We'll always be works in progress. And we ought to always have a measure of "divine discontent." I think "eustress" or "healthy stress" is a much better picture of what life ought to be like.
Jazz
The entire book of Ecclesiastes reminds of Blue Like Jazz. The author likens God to Jazz--just like good Jazz music, God doesn't always "resolve." Ecclesiastes is Jazz--there are lots of unresolved chords until you get to the final chapter. That makes for some "unresolved" verses that don't seem to make sense without the entire context of the book.
Another way of thinking of it is this--chapters 1-10 are the diagnosis and chapters 11-12 are the prognosis or prescription.
Selfishness
I'm convinced that wealth and pleasure and knowledge and power can be good things--but not if they are seen as ends in and of themselves. I'm more and more convinced that selfishness is hell. That seems to be C.S. Lewis' take in The Great Divorce. Hell is shrinking into our selfishness until we removed from everyone including God.
I think Solomon is miserable because his seeking is self-seeking. He says in 2:10, "Anything I wanted, I took. I did not restrain myself from any joy." True joy is found in seeking God's glory not our own.
Homeostasis
I love the truth in chapter three. Life is made up of seasons. It is a swinging pendulum, an ebb and flow. Like the Nantucket Nectar bottle cap says, "If every day were a good day there would be no good days." We've got to embrace the ups and downs and see value in the mountains and valleys. There is a homeostasis to spirituality.
Timing
Ecclesiastes is a book about divine timing. Part of it is understanding the seasons. And part of it is taking the long view. I love 3:11, "God has made everything beautiful in its own time." I think part of timing is not delaying. 11:4 says, "If we wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." As a "P" on the Myers-Briggs and a Perfectionist, that verse is one I've memorized.
Two keys I've learned to help me deal with my fear of finality is to do "drafts." I have a hard time "tying off the umbilical cord" but drafts helps me do that in stages. And 11:6 says, "Plant a variety of crops." In other words, try lots of different stuff!
360 Degrees
Omniscience is a 360 degree perspective. You see all the way around an issue. I think most of my best decisions I've got a 1 degree perspective. Compared to God I have such limited knowledge. I may take three or four factors into consideration compared to a million factors that God is considering. That is why I've got to trust Him because He knows best. 3:11 says, "People cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
Truth is kaleidscopic.
3:14 says, "God's purpose is that people fear him." The word fear means "reverence" or "awe." I'm more and more convinced that if we truly lived our lives "in awe" of God just about everything else would take care of itself. That is what Heaven will be like--unadulterated awe. We'll live in jaw-droping, eye-popping, body-stopping wonder! I think we'll be absolutely overwhelmed.
Insecurity
I'm more and more conscious of my own insecurities. 4:4 hurts. "Most people are motivated to success by their envy of their neighbor." Pride is a by-product of insecurity. Many people never get to enjoy success because they were motivated for the wrong reasons which robs us of job!
Thought-Full
Chapter 5 is about being thought-full or mind-full. "Mindless offerings to God are evil." I've always believed that the more knowledge we have of God the greater our potential to worship God. God wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth (the opposite of ignorance). Ignorant worship is like saying "thank you" but you're not sure what for! It's a little disingenuous.
The Cloud
I think lots of people feel like they live under a a cloud--a cloud of guilt or cloud of fear or cloud or angst. 5:17 says, "Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud--frustrated, discouraged, and angry. I've seen this theme resurfacing in my life and teaching more and more.
Lot
5:19 says, "Accept your lot in life." I think this is wanting what you have instead of having what you want. 6:9 says it this way. "Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have." Those are two fundamentally different approaches to life that will determine how happy someone is.
I think part of this is accepting who you're not!
100% Present
Solomon tells the young man to enjoy his youth. 11:9 says, "Enjoy every minute of it." We've got to seize the moment. 12:6 says, "Remember your Creator now while you are young."
At the end of the day it's all about stewardship--how we spent our life. What did we invest our time and energy and money in? 6:12 says, "In the few days of our empty lives, who knows how our days can best be spent?" Solomon answers his own question in 12:13. This is where he finally resolves the chord. "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person."
There is an old hymn that says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." It's true. The recipe for misery is to try to have it both ways--a little holiness and a little sin. The recipe for true joy is absolute obedience.