When Everything Feels Meaningless…
Reflections on Disappointment and Meaninglessness—Even in the Christian Life
If you could ask for anything with the assurance that you would receive it, what would you ask for?
What feels missing in your life right now, the one thing you imagine would finally make you whole?
What do you want that you believe would make you truly happy?
These are not abstract, ethereal questions. Like a pinball, they reverberate in the quiet recesses of our hearts and minds, beating back and forth, ringing from one part of our questioning soul to the other.
These questions do not only arise in quiet, late-night moments and seasons of disappointment or exhaustion. They also it rear their heads when achievements no longer satisfy, when goals met are replaced with more to do, when the raise is never enough, when comparison steals joy.
You and I are almost forced to conclude: does anything even matter?
But, imagine you had it all.
The lifestyle you desire to live, the amount of money you want, the partner you prayed for, the career you have labored for, the vacations you once thought impossible, the house you only can afford to view on Zillow.
Imagine you had it all and more, whatever that might mean for you. How would you feel?
What if you were to come to discover both lack and abundance will lead you to the same conclusion and feeling: disappointment, no lasting satisfaction and meaninglessness.
King Solomon’s experience is a wake-up call for us all. He had it all—wealth, possessions, achievements and the lifestyle that came with it.
His conclusion? You would think it would produce peace. You’d think it would be celebratory or triumphant.
Meaningless, vanity, a vapor—here one moment, gone the next.
Not nothingness, that word is too soft. But more like instability. Elusiveness. Something you can see, imagine and desire, but something you cannot hold and never will.
According the world’s logic, that is so deeply embedded in our bones, the rich would be happy. The more successful you are, the more settled your life should be. And while wealth does alleviate some tensions non-wealthy people experience, it more often substitutes one set of problems for another.
What unsettles me about life, and what Ecclesiastes draws out so honestly, is not that life feels meaningless in moments of failure and instability. But that it can feel meaningless even when things go right.
When prayer are answered the way you begged for.
When goals are achieved.
When the life you once wanted becomes the life you are living.
Yet, something is still missing.
I wonder if life—especially the Christian life—consists in learning how to live with both met and unmet expectations. Perhaps disappointment is not always the result of doing life wrong, but the result of seeing it clearly for what it is and doing it right.
These words resonate with me today than ever:
“Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”
—Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NASB 1995)
SH
Thank you for this beautiful reflection on disappointment. I enjoyed it so much, I’ve read it twice and listened to it twice.
It reminded me of Paul’s words about being content, whether in want or in plenty. His contentment was in the Lord, and I needed that reminder today.
It also sparked me to revisit two songs I haven’t listened to in years. The first is “Meaningless” by Anthony Evans (it’s hard to find on streaming apps):
“Only You, You satisfy, and only You sustain my life.
Without You, it’s meaningless…
It’s meaningless—these treasures I possess.
Only You, You satisfy, and only You sustain my life.”
The second is Ayiesha Woods — “What Matters Most.”
Again, thank you for the reflection. It was exactly what I needed today.
Profound reflection. This writing also makes me think about satisfaction. When are we satisfied, really satisfied? Thank you for this.