A Weary World

A. “All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing,” Eccl. 1:8. To beings made for fellowship with God, the world of temporal things by itself can never be wholly satisfying. What we find is that the world, even at its best, exhausts us and leaves us longing for Something More. Shakespeare wrote, "O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world."
It is a frustrating, disappointing when we try to hold forever things that are only temporary at best? How foolish to spend a life time grasping in the air in a feeble attempt to grasp a hand full of wind. It shows the self deception of folks who never see beyond the cravings of physical life to catch a glimpse of the eternal.
a. The addictive cravings for the things of this world can do nothing more than place upon us a
greater burden than they can bear. I really like the way God explains it in Isa. 29:8, "It
shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look; he eats; but he awakes, and his
soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look; he drinks; but he awakes, and
indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves." Eccl. 2:21-26.
Some how we must wipe the spiritual slumber from our eyes—Wake up and begin to get more real joy from this world. Perhaps we would begin to pay more attention to the world to come. Our problem is not seeking too much of the world, but too little of God. C. S. Lewis said, "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half?hearted creatures . . . We are far too easily pleased and we settle for second best." Spiritual blinds keeps us from understanding that seeking the greater things of God is to get more from this world, not less. That’s paradoxical, yet absolutely true. "He sins against this life who slights the next." (Edward Young).
The tiresomeness of temporal life by itself ought to be a clue to the fact that we were meant for more. There is much more to be enjoyed in life. But we cheat ourselves by pretending this world is all we need. We cheat ourselves, "satisfy" ourselves with so pitifully little, when our hearts were made for so much greater joy. Thankfully, God keeps calling us to be truly refreshed!
God still calls from the restlessness of the world, from the tribulation of human events, from the feelings of discouragement, from the lack of faith, from the failure to hear the message, from the twilight of moral and spiritual exhaustion to eternal life. He still calls.
2. Acts 20:32.

Spur - 04/27/03 pm