Parry Stelter and his wife spending a fun family moment with their daughters.
As I’ve been finishing one of the last classes for my seminary degree, I had the privilege of taking a course called “The Wisdom Literature.” During this course, I wrote a paper on Ecclesiastes 12:1-8. As I investigated this unique passage, I realized that although the message of pessimism came seeping through the pages, I also realized that it takes Jesus Christ to make it all make sense.
The first conclusion I came to was that Ecclesiastes was written by an author who had “Lost his way.” As the author gets closer to death, he realizes that pessimism is the best approach to take, because “Everything is Meaningless!” Everything “under the sun” is “meaningless.” “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 12:8, NIV, 2008).
Now if that’s not enough to send you into a spiral of depression, I don’t know what is. Trying to make sense out of life, aside from Jesus Christ, is “meaningless.” This “Teacher may have known God in a more meaningful way, at a previous time, but now there is no meaning for the “Teacher.”
Have you been experiencing some pessimism lately? It’s not too late to turn the tide of this angry wave that has the potential to destroy your life.
When we take a look at healing our hearts from past disappointments and failures—pessimism is not the way to go. This is why it is so important to pay attention to the tone of the last two verses of the book. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
The best way to fear God is to embrace the overall message of the entire Bible, which is that Jesus Christ brings true meaning out of what seems “meaningless.” This is what some of the best commentators say as well. Jesus Christ completes Ecclesiastes. This is what was so rewarding about researching these verses. No matter what section of the Bible you are looking at, whether in the Old or New Testament, Jesus Christ completes and heals everything.
There are so many different ways to interpret Ecclesiastes. These are the challenges that all scholars and students of the Bible face. Yet, when it comes to choosing pessimism over optimism, the best choice is always optimism. Not just any type of optimism, but a “Christ-Centered Optimism.” Everything that Jesus did for us by dying on the cross gives us hope, no matter what happens “under the sun.”
When you read Ecclesiastes, it appears as if an older man is speaking to a younger man, but this advice about having a “Christ-Centered Optimism” is for everyone. “...I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12b). When you follow the teachings of Jesus instead of the pessimism you will “never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
How can you go wrong with that? This “light of life” is “Christ-Centered Optimism” that I’ve been talking about. Pessimism is darkness and is not honoring to God. This is why there are such high suicide rates, and so many problems with addictions in the world. People default to pessimism, because they see everything as “meaningless.”
People see injustice instead of justice and conclude that “Everything is Meaningless!” People see hatred instead of love and conclude that “Everything is Meaningless!” People see their loved ones dying for unexplained reasons and conclude “Everything is Meaningless!” The list can go on and on.
With Jesus Christ everything has meaning. If you suffer the consequences of your own sins you can’t blame God. If you are sincerely trying to turn your life around and fully surrender to God, and there are still aspects of your life that don’t make sense, it’s because God doesn’t do things the way we do. He doesn’t think the way we think.
God is always concerned with His purposes and ways. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Then Isaiah says that God’s Word will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and what He purposes (see verses 10-11).
With a “Christ-Centered Optimism” in your life everything has meaning, and therefore our hearts can be healed from the past. Then we can really live!
Perry Stelter is originally from Alexander First Nation with his wife and their two daughters. They live in Edmonton, Alberta.
