Futility: A Discourse on the Times

the sun rises and the sun sets;

and hastening to its place it rises there again.

blowing toward the south,

then turning to 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.

all things are wearisome;

[humans] are 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 with 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 1:5-11¹

 Those who know me know that my favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. It is a book that some, if not many, Christians avoid due to its overall depressing nature. The book begins with the author declaring that everything is futile. The word "futile" is defined as "serving no meaningful purpose" and/or "ineffective" by the Merriam Webster dictionary. I don't know about you, but things are looking awfully futile lately. 

Unlike some people, I find great comfort in perhaps the most depressing book of the Bible. In the past, when I have encountered situations that filled me with grief, fear, or general hopelessness, I ran to the verses that empathized with those feelings. When illness, change, and fear are hanging thick in the air, I would rather read "For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God" (5:7) than have someone quote "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4). I'm not saying that we can't or shouldn't find joy in difficult times. I'm saying sometimes joy comes from embracing the ups and downs as part of life in all of its beauty and futility. 

I'm not a doctor or a pastor or an actual psychologist. I'm just a human with thoughts and opinions. I'm scared of what the future holds for me and the people I love. But there is a time and place for these emotions. As Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, "there is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance". Maybe verse 5 is more fitting, this is definitely a time to "shun from embracing." The comfort is that nothing is new. Some people are comparing this time period to the roaring twenties, with the Spanish flu and Great Depression. Maybe patterns will repeat, maybe they won't. Technology and internet are a great help. New things make us safer and more comfortable. However, this isn't new. Humanity has been here before, we will survive this and face it again in the future. God is still God. Everything is going to be okay. 

Remember: This is going to end. Whatever you are going through right now financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, will end. Your grief will fade with time. Your fear will pass. Illness will run its course. Someday we are all going to look back on this. Take every day for what it has to offer and just keep on. Forward is the way out. 

¹Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

²“futile.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2020. Web. 17 Mar 2020.