The Questor, the Preacher, the Teacher… all names translators have given to the man who wrote this exquisitely heartbreaking piece of poetry. He tries everything to satisfy his thirsty soul.
He even tries God.
But still, he cannot find the purpose of his life. After a life of searching, the Questor-Preacher-Teacher writes this:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”
The purpose of life is to live.
But what does it mean to live?
I have seen mansions, the bamboo-stilt houses, and shanties. I have met the people who live in them, and they are not so different. Seasons change and people grow. God moves and the world responds.
I expected this time serving with Monsoon to break and remake me in a dramatic way. I expected it to be a pinnacle learning experience to which nothing else (except my conversion and marriage) could compare.
It hasn’t been like that.
Although I have grown much, it has not been dramatic. Sort of like falling in love with Colin or giving my life to Christ… it was natural and simple. Little by little you learn. Seasons ebb and flow in a rhythm that makes sense if you only pay attention to it.
I think most of what it means to live is to participate in seasons.
The Questor is not fulfilled because God is an eternal God with an eternal purpose. We, the earth-bound, are also eternal but in a season of clock watching. He is not bound by time. We are… for now.
So time passes and we change. Hopefully, we become more and more like Christ. Some people have miraculous experiences where the clock seems to stand still, and they are transformed in an instant, but most of life is not like that.
Recently, I realized that I was only conscious of God during take off and landing when we fly. It sounds like a cliché sermon metaphor, but it really is true. Rather than despair at my lack of faithfulness, I realized that God allowed me a season of spiritual thoughtlessness to bring me into a season of spiritual awareness. It happened, and I can be grateful for it because I have learned. It’s okay to be in seasons of dryness. They make you grateful for the rain.
Colin and I are leaving the Asia Pacific in just under two weeks. This next season of life is new and exciting... but also a bit scary. What new transitions await us? What comes next? Our future here on earth is uncertain, but everything builds towards the last season of perfection.
The Questor was unsatisfied because we are all unsatisfied until our souls find rest when heaven and earth are made new. So we wait.
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