Life is Meant to be Frustrating

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. –John 16:33 

                I found something in scripture this week that rocked my world enough that I think I will experience aftershocks from it for a long time. It is in the book of Romans, which is my personal favorite; a book I have taught many times and am teaching now in my Senior High Sunday School Class. I was not expecting to find anything new. I was calmly preparing my lesson on the second half of Romans 8, when I saw it.  It’s in a verse I’ve read so many times; but suddenly my eyes were opened to an entirely new depth of meaning.

            The verse is Romans 8:20 and the hard-hitting truth is found in the first seven words:  “For the creation was subjected to frustration….” I quoted it in my blog, Life Hurts, but apparently I wasn’t paying attention even then.  I have this wonderful Bible that has both Old and New Testament Lexical Aids, which simply means you can look up the Hebrew or Greek words in a verse to see what the words meant in their original language. In this instance, I looked up the word translated as “frustration” – Mataiotes in the Greek. It means “Vanity, futility, meaninglessness, worthlessness. Not the absence of purpose, but the absence of true purpose and meaning.” Verse 20 goes on to say that the creation was subjected to this state by God.  

            Immediately those words brought the book of Ecclesiastes to mind. That book basically begins with the words, “Meaningless! Meaningless...Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Eccl.1:2) and then repeats it over and over throughout the remainder of the book. So I looked up the word translated “Meaningless” – Hebell in the Hebrew. And, lo and behold, it means “Vanity, futility, meaninglessness, worthlessness, emptiness.” The same word in the Hebrew!

            Stay with me here, I’m getting to the point. Solomon, who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes (as well as most of Proverbs and the Song of Songs), was given a very special gift by God. In 1 Kings 3, God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted, and Solomon asked for a discerning heart. God was pleased with the request and said he would give Solomon “a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.” (1 Kings 3:12) Then, in 1 Kings 4 it says, “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.  He was wiser than any other man…. “ (! Kings 4:30-31)

            While no one seems to have a problem with Proverbs and Song of Songs (except for the racy content), many Christians seem to be uncomfortable with the Book of Ecclesiastes. You’ll have to read it and draw your own conclusions, but I look at this book as Solomon’s Extraordinary Social Experiment. Using the unparalleled wisdom which God gave him, he set about trying out all of the things the world had to offer, and then reported on it.  He dove into all the typical pleasures the world holds dear – He had great wealth and power, he amassed property, built grand houses, planted vineyards, gardens, parks;  He had more than 1000 wives and concubines, he had people to wait on him, hand and foot.  He says, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired.”  (Eccl. 2:10) He always makes a point of repeating that, during all of this experiment, his wisdom stayed with him, and, in the end, he reported, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless….” (Eccl. 2:11) He had the same thing to say about all the oppression, the labor, all the chasing after power and advancement, the quest for knowledge, all riches, all folly and, finally, even wisdom itself (although it was better than folly).

            The conclusion of the experiment was that everything this world has to offer, which seems so dazzling and desirable; which seems so necessary for happiness, is chased after in vain, because, in the end, it never delivers what it appeared to promise and ultimately leaves you empty and unsatisfied. Everything is worthless and without true purpose or meaning. And, why is that? Because God subjected all of the things of this world to that futility, so that when we experience the frustration and dissatisfactions of this world, we will turn to him.

            I have known so many people over the years who have lived as though they believed God was trying to keep them from enjoying the good things in life. As a matter of fact, wasn’t that the original lie Satan told Eve? God was not only trying to keep her from enjoying the luscious fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but he was also trying to hold her back from ultimate fulfillment by keeping her from reaching the level of a god herself. We humans still hold that lie close to our hearts. Many believe they can “have the best of both worlds” not understanding that the only true fulfillment, the only true purpose or meaning that can be found in all of creation, is found in God alone. 

            I can already feel this perspective, that God has intentionally subjected the things of this world to meaninglessness, changing the way I look at my life.  Why would I want to waste my time and resources on what I know God has purposely rendered futile and worthless?  Lord, show me how to stop chasing the wind.