Longman III and Allender on how life "under the sun" is subjected to frustration

I am once again reminded of how futile life is if we only focus on life on this earth. I remember reading a recent trending post of advise that was supposedly given Steve Jobs - the gist is in the face of impending death, he would not be able to take the wealth he had accumulated, and that what he would bring along would probably be the memories of the good relationships he had had. He called the readers to invest more time and energy into meaningful friendships/relationships.

Do we as Christians subconsciously attribute pain and suffering to the devil, and pray or hope earnestly that God would defeat the enemy and deliver us? I can relate strongly when things do not go the way I hope it would. I am deeply saddened by the amount of violence to Scripture that is going on from the preacher's pulpit and from the cell leader's notes. I am grieved that church leaders pick and choose Scripture to justify the church's methodological demand of unquestioned submission to leaders. I am troubled that many Christians are unable to intellectually defend Scripture or a Christian worldview against the onslaught of the average postmodern young adult's worldview. I do not know what to do when I see worship leaders draw attention to themselves or just feed the crowd's desire to be entertained. I am frustrated that I do not yet know how to reconcile how blessed I was to receive the ministry of wonderful women cell leaders and teachers, and yet it seems that the reformed theologians make a better case for Complementarianism. I am conflicted as to whether the church should remunerate for services rendered. I am confused as to whether I should speak up of my deeply held convictions or keep silent so as not to come across as a brash smart alec out to show how smart he is.

Indeed it seems that my life is out of control, and the temptation is to seek to systematically bring everything under my power, in my little bubble of influence. O Lord help me see things from an eternal perspective, that I may live life having discovered, surrendered and accomplished your will.


From pages 34-36 of Breaking the Idols of Your Heart

Christians often ignore God's disruptions, attributing them either to Satan's assault or just to the way life is. We too quickly mask our frustration, saying something like, "Well, I may not know what is going on, but at least God does!"

We assume God will take care of those who pursue him. We find ourselves attracted to sayings like "the LORD does not let the righteous go hungry" (Proverbs 10:3 NIV) rather than to sad—but accurate—observation like the Teacher's:

The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12).

The Teacher does not even find comfort in the idea of an afterlife where God puts everything right. As he looks into the future, he cries out:

This, too, 1 carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God's hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don't (9:1-2).

No wonder the Teacher concludes, again and again, that life is "like chasing the wind" (1:14 and many other verses). If we pay attention, we easily conclude the same. Even though we try hard, we can still feel we are groping in the darkness with no ultimate success.

People today spend a lot of physical, emotional and spiritual energy trying to control their schedules, jobs and relationships. We assume that the solution to our lack of control is to find new systems, new rules, new methods, new "laws" for doing things. We think that if only we have the right systems, we can control the chaos.

Our experience and the Teacher's observations deny this assumption. We need to turn from frenetically chasing control to something better. Under the sun, we chase control, but we discover it is as difficult to grasp as the wind. However, we can choose to move from an "under the sun" perspective to an "above the sun" one.

Let's take some time to explain this terminology, which will play such an important role in this book. We have already observed that the Teacher uses the phrase "under the sun" to describe life and
God. The Teacher himself never uses the opposite phrase. We are coining it to explain the opposite perspective. In other words, while the Teacher kept his search for meaning and truth utterly earthbound, we want to look at life from Gods perspective as he reveals it to us in his Word.

How do we move from an "under the sun" perspective to an "above the sun" viewpoint? The answer ... is simply this: "fear God and obey his commands" (12:13). Put God first in your life. If you want to find meaning and purpose in life, look at reality from God's perspective, not your own limited view.