Read below the following verses in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 from The Bible written by King Solomon, son of King David.
Everything Is Meaningless
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
I love Ecclesiastes because it has a philosophical tone, which seems relate-able to all humans. Solomon, who wrote it, had it all in a worldly sense: women, wealth, authority and prestige. Yet, he wasn’t satisfied with his life, and concludes it is meaningless.
Philosophers question the world around them and try to answer themselves via different types of reflective questions and thoughts. A philosophy professor that I had in college once said, “Philosophy can only get you so far. In matters of faith, to each his own.”
What he said is true. Yet, with what I can see with my own eyes and in my experience learning, and in particular learning with my own children, I have begun an intellectual REBIRTH if you will; my knowledge of the universe has collided with the belief that God is behind it all. He is the “big bang” or “uncaused cause”.
For instance, how many times have I seen a blue sky with puffy white cumulus clouds? Countless. Yet, how many times have I TRULY seen it-studied it, and appreciated the intricacies and the miracle of it? Few. I, we, have stopped observing the world around us with interest, amazement, and awe. Every time I take the time to examine and enjoy it, I must conclude that there is a creative, immense, and purposeful Creator that surpasses my own comprehension.
I delight to see the eyes of my children light up when watching birds fly by, squirrels digging for acorns, or relishing in the first snowfall. The importance of cherishing life and all the little intricacies of the created world is necessary to come to the conclusion that there is a CREATOR behind it. Creation was meant to point us to the Creator, God. It was meant to make us wonder, reflect, and question why so much order, detail, creativity? Who is behind it all? WHAT is the PURPOSE? By intentionally looking at His creation, we can develop eyes to see God with no limits or bounds, as who He truly is: omnipotent(all-powerful), omniscient(all-knowing), and omnipresent(all-present, He is everywhere at all times).
We’ve been studying and reading about insects in our home, and to see these little creatures roaming around, living and breathing among us, is breath-taking, let alone finding out that there are 12,000 species of ants alone, and various other astounding realities. The more I know, the more I am aware of how much I don’t know. This is a humbling yet great place to be intellectually, and I believe this is how God meant for us to begin: to first believe SOMEONE is the CREATOR (not chance), then to question WHO the Creator is, and finally ask if He is “know-able?”
Now, my second initial question: WHAT IS LIFE ALL ABOUT? Once we come to an ascent of faith, it is there we can also find our ultimate purpose! I assure you we are not here by random chance or accident. The answer is best recorded by Solomon at the end of Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 in which he, being revered and considered the wisest teacher at the time, says,
“Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.”
He sums it up: Know God and FOLLOW Him. Every person will walk a different path to finding faith, purpose and ultimately belief in God (or not). All this to say, I hope that if you find yourself not believing at all, start with creation. You may have some philosophical reflections along the way, which can help you question why we are here to begin with. The next place I’d point you to is The Bible, a historical document that presents Jesus as The Savior of humanity. Faith is believing what you can’t see, as it says in Hebrews 11:1, but is based on undeniable facts and proof of God’s faithfulness to generations past as written in the Scriptures and up until the present time.
So, what is your story? Why do you believe in God or not? I’d love for whoever reads this to share what helped you to make your current decision.
Thanks for reading, and sharing!
Thank you for sharing your story. It's so encouraging to know that God can call those who never "knew Him" growing up, but your heart longed for Him!! Ecclesiastes 3:11 is one of my favorite verses in The Bible to quote! It states, as you said that, "God put eternity in the hearts of men." THIS WORLD is NOT the end, and DEATH does NOT sit well with ANYONE for a REASON!! Jesus made us to be eternal! This post was one of the hardest to post so far, because I could have included so much more….but now I know that YOU, Crystal, were meant to respond to it and share all that you did to "bring it home!" THANK you for taking the time to put your thoughts down as a response, so many others can be encouraged and have resources to tap into in their journey to faith. So inspiring.
I love that your family is learning about insects! My kids love animals as well! I don't always love all the insects and spiders that come out this time of year but God created them for a purpose! That's a great idea for something to learn about more over the summer and maybe I'll start to appreciate them more 😉
I'm always amazed too by all the diversity in life that God created. Life is definitely not something that sprung up out of nothing after a big bang and millions of years of evolution. Tori Kelly recently did a great cover of the song "So Will I" by Hillsong Worship that is really beautiful and is perfect for this topic!! Here's a link to it: https://youtu.be/IuedrKMVbFk. Jose and I also recently watched a documentary on Netflix called "Is Genesis History?" that was so interesting and presented such compelling scientific arguments and evidence to support Genesis.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 states that "He has also set eternity in the human heart.". We all have a "God shaped hole" in our hearts that can only be filled by Him.
God made humanity to have a relationship with Him and to walk in fellowship with Him. I've felt this longing in my heart to know God since I was a little kid and I always wanted to know God and have my family go to church. This didn't happen in my childhood. It wasn't until I became an adult that I could make this decision for myself now and know God and follow Him and now I'm raising my family in the church like I had always wanted and prayed for as a kid! Praise God!
Any time I wonder or doubt if this faith is all real I quickly think to creation, think to all the stories and truth in the Bible and rely on the experiences I've had in my life. I've felt the love from our heavenly Father and have felt Him pursue me over the years since I was a kid and He sought to bring me back to Himself like the lost sheep parable in Matthew 18:12-14!
Thank you for your beautiful thoughts and inspiration in this post!! It was much needed today 🙂