Ecclesiastes 3:10-11

As I read through Ecclesiastes, I have mixed emotions as I connect on different levels with what Solomon says.

Part of me thinks how right he is when it comes to the meaningless acts of work, pleasure and what we acquire in this life. The other part of me, a wild guess being the Holy Spirit, reminds myself that when we act for the glory of God, everything holds meaning.

These two verses brought about similar pulls as I saw both sides to the argument.

Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 ~ "I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Solomon creates quite the contrast here. He attributes God with giving men a burden to carry, a burden of the longing for something greater – eternity – only to discover we cannot possibly understand this longing.

Sandwiched between these two revelations sits an expression of God's beauty.

In Matthew Henry's commentary on these verses, he says that we need to patiently wait for God to reveal what we cannot comprehend.

For Solomon, this proved frustrating. For myself, I can't help but grow excited.

God set eternity in our hearts. That thought alone brings comfort and amazement. We can rest assured that this life is not our permanent home. We were created for something so much more. And we will not be completely satisfied until we are home.

I don't see this as a burden. I see it as a reason to find the beauty that God created while I live out my time here, knowing that if I cannot even fathom what God has done, then the future holds more than I could possibly imagine.