Realistic Pessimism

Sharing a brief excerpt from my devotional reading today from Knowing God Through the Year by J.I. Packer.

For in much wisdom is much vexation, 
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. 

Ecclesiastes 1:18
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If life is senseless, then it is valueless. And in that case, what use is it working to create things, to build a business, to make money, even to seek wisdom, for none of this can do you any obvious good (Ecc. 2:15-16, 22-23, 5-11)? It is to this pessimistic conclusion, says the preacher of Ecclesiastes, that optimistic expectations of finding the divine purpose of everything will ultimately lead you (1:17-18). And of course he is right. For the world we live in is in fact the sort of place that he has described. The God who rules it hides himself. Rarely does this world look as if a beneficent Providence were running it. Rarely does it appear that there is a rational power behind it all. Often what is worthless survives, while what is valuable perishes.

Be realistic, says the preacher. Face the facts. See life as it is. You will have no true wisdom till you do. And then praise God for giving our life the meaning that the world does not hold. 

Painting ~ A Peaceful Read 1869, George Goodwin Kilburn 1839-1924
Wikipedia Commons public domain