- All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. -
Have you ever wondered why we ask children what they want to be when they grow up? It feels like an innocent question.
My brother wanted to be a whale for about 2-3 years and cried when he found out little boys don’t grow up and magically change species.
What about that dream, Disney?
I think there are two reasons (at least) baked into this question.
One, a brand-new human is struggling to understand us and the world. We want to check in and make sure its dreams and aspirations are noble and good.
Two, kids are potential, and we’re curious.
This second point is one of the many reasons parenting is such a gift. It’s a chance to create practically limitless potential and guide it in a manner to the Good for an end you could’ve never predicted.
It’s Mary offering Jesus up to the world.
Can you see the connection? To have a child worthy of its potential, you have to offer it up to a world that wants to destroy it.
It’s beautiful and heart wrenching.
Now, let’s talk about you. You’re running out of potential.
You aren’t a chubby little thing barely capable of running twenty feet without falling. All that time you had to make something of yourself, well it’s gone, getting you to right here.
A midlife crisis is a realization that this potential has disappeared, and you’re upset about where you landed.
Why are things full of weariness? Because turning your potential into anything useful is work, and you have to be useful to survive. Dr. Peterson says, “There is no difference between life and effortful maintenance.”
How did you get your job? You burned your potential to garner skills. You got a degree instead of playing sports, starting a business, or becoming an artist.
Why does Solomon say this is impossible to speak of? How can you evaluate something like this? You were, as humans are concerned, limitless at once! You don’t even know all of the things that were available to you!
The reference at the end of the verse to the eye and ear is something akin to our curiosity. No matter how much we ingest, we can still be surprised and shocked, hence our desire to see, experience, and be more.
Despite our potential, Solomon lets us know that the world will always be larger than ourselves.
So, what do we do knowing that our potential is flowing away?
First and foremost, I think we need to realize that we’ll be judged for how we use this time. In Matthew 12:36, Jesus tells us that we’ll be judged for every careless word we speak.
That’s Jesus! Not even angry, fire and brimstone God. Start by asking God what He wants with your time.
Then, if your young, get after it! You have no idea where God can take you!
Also, if your old, get after it! You have no idea where God can take you!
Is it a resource? Yes. But, does God have a plan? Absolutely.
Rest in Him, despite the weariness of this age.