Chapter 4 Satisfaction

It is hard to get around the fact that this book is depressing. Each time a glimmer of hope is found, the preacher goes back to stating what is wrong with the world. Chapter 4 starts with the statement that it is better to have not been born than to see the evil under the sun.
There are days I can fully agree with him. Those are the days filled with news stories of horrible offences against children. Days when I look at the work I’ve done and see it as worthless in the stream of time. Days when no justice is apparent to those who seem to deserve it. But what do I know? I am not God. I do not know, and cannot know, how each of these pieces is fitting into a greater plan. This pain I’m enduring is part of something much bigger than me. Maybe it’s only purpose is to help me see God more clearly. Maybe the purpose is to open a door for someone else who will do a mighty work for the kingdom that I will never know. Maybe it is the naturally occurring consequence of an act of disobedience. I may not know why I’m hurting. It is crucial though that I know who I serve. I serve the Lord, most high. The God of Angel Armies who loves me so completely that He allowed the unimaginable suffering of His perfect son to atone for my sins. How do I complain in light of that?
In verse 9, the preacher says that “Two are better than one”. This is a happy nugget. We are meant to work in relationship with others. Earlier God has said that it was not good for man to be alone, so He made him a helper. People are not meant to function outside of a relationship with others. We need to be able to reach out and feel a human embrace. We need to feel the safety of having someone walking with us on the road of life.
I worked in long term care when I was in college. One of the biggest challenges the residents had was combatting loneliness. The idea of dying without someone there beside them would compel them to put off death as long as they could. I spent many days and nights sitting by bedsides and holding hands while people died. There is a great fear that a person will be forgotten after death. People do not want to be forgotten. If you think that the sum of your value is found on earth, then leaving earth would fill you with dread. If you know that the sum of your value is found in communion with Jesus, then leaving this earth fills you with excitement because you know how close you are to seeing Him. The book says even those who led many, many people will be forgotten (v 16). The only guard against that is to have relationships that will live after you and to know that the Lord is waiting to receive you. He will take you in His arms and welcome you home.
In researching this topic, I came across a statement by J. Vernon McGee that Ecclesiastes is about satisfaction. That puzzled me for a long time. The realization dawned slowly. The preacher is searching for meaning, for something that will bring satisfaction to life. There is only one way to satisfaction. We cannot find satisfaction in the future because there is no guarantee of the future. We cannot find satisfaction in having many people to remember us because everyone will die and we will be forgotten. The only place we can find deep satisfaction is in the Lord.
I recently left a job I held for 10 years. I worked with many wonderful people in my time there. The opportunity to leave the job provided me with many things. 1. I was able to grow in my trust of the Lord. 2. I was able to see that my influence would go on through the dedication of those who knew the Father. I am not the main idea. I am only a means to convey a message. The message is the important part. My satisfaction is not in a job title but in the assurance that when I leave this earth, my Father will be waiting to hold me in His arms. That is the good stuff.