And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don't know
And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On the truth that my life has been formed from the dust
God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God.
-Steven Curtis Chapman
"God has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end... Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out... As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything." (Eccl. 3:11, 8:17, 11:5)
The Bible allows us to ask our hard questions, but it does not promise easy answers, at least not in this life under the sun. In fact there are many times that all it leaves us with is "God knows." Ecclesiastes is a book that asks lots of difficult questions and has very little in the way of succinct, satisfying answers. At first, this seems enormously frustrating. How can God leave us hanging like that?
By way of answering that question, the author of Ecclesiastes reminds us, first, that we are mere creatures, formed from the dust and destined to return to it. We are a finite people who exist in time and space, with a limited capacity for knowledge. We are not God, and don't have the ability to comprehend all that God has planned, even if he were to explain it to us. And God has made things that way, at least in part, so we would know our place as creatures and not seek to elevate ourselves to the level of gods.
But this truth of our "earthiness" does not leave us floating around in a universe with no gravity and nothing to cling to. The Preacher also answers that all things are firmly in God's hands and he will do exactly as he pleases, at exactly the right time. We need not fear what he does not yet answer; we need only trust the One who will put all things right in the end: Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. (8:12,13)
There are glimmers of hope in Ecclesiastes (not lying--they're there!), but as in much of the Old Testament, the author offers only a misty portrait of the hope to come. Life after death is assured, but in a shadowy form with little detail. And here is where the faint traces of future hope need the rest of biblical revelation to be fleshed out. While many of our specific questions still go unanswered in the New Testament, the most important answer we could ever need has been given once and for all at the cross and empty tomb of Jesus. It is at the cross that God declares for all time that whatever trials you may meet with in this life, you need not face eternal punishment in the next if you are trusting in Jesus' death on your behalf. It is at the empty tomb that the hope of our own future resurrection is sealed. Romans 8 puts meat on the bones of Ecclesiastes: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us... And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved." (Romans 8:18-25)
But in the meantime, we wait, and find that many of the questions we ask about the seeming futility of our work, the pain in our own lives and the injustice and oppression that abound in the world--those questions go unanswered for now.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that we make a serious mistake if we call hurting people to Jesus with the promise that he will fix everything: that he will make their marriage better, make their kids behave, help them find satisfaction in their work, keep them from tragedy, and answer every question they could ever ask. We make a serious mistake if we expect Jesus to do the same for us. Jesus doesn't PROMISE those things. He doesn't promise easy answers. But he DOES promise to be with you in the hard times of your marriage, to be with you when your kids don't listen, to be with you when you'd rather be anywhere but where you are right now, to be with you when the bottom drops out and you're in a free fall. He promises that even when we don't understand, don't have the answers, and everything we do seems futile, there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from God's love if we are clinging to him. He promises that HE knows the answers, and he IS working all things for our good and his glory, even when we can't see it. He promises that one day we will see him face to face, and God will wipe every weary tear from our eyes. And while these may not be the easy answers we're looking for, they are the only answers that can carry us through both the happy and the sad times, through the easy questions and the hard ones.
"Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor? Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)
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