Eternity in Our Hearts

by Heidi Janz

Read: Eccl. 3:1-14

"... He has also set eternity in the human heart..." (Eccl. 3:11)
 
There are some people who thrive on change–people who find themselves stagnating and growing restless if they are left in the same situation for too long. Then, there are people who generally dread change, and usually do whatever is possible to avoid it. This is often because, in one way or another, they have come to equate change with loss.

I’m someone who definitely belongs to the second group of people; I’ve always had a hard time dealing with change. Even positive changes, like graduating from the “special” school for students with disabilities that I had attended from Kindergarten through Grade Twelve and starting university, or getting my first Post-Doctoral Fellowship and having to move to a different province, were very stressful and scary for me because they involved leaving a place of familiarity and security to go to a place shrouded by a countless number of huge and overwhelming unknowns. In both instances, although I was excited by the new possibilities that these major changes would bring into my life, at the same time I grieved for the loss of relationships and security that these changes would inevitably mean for me.

During times of major change in our lives, we may long a sense of permanence and security which transcends the upheaval that often accompanies change. King Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, tells us that God “has set eternity in the human heart.” While there is some debate among Biblical scholars about the exact meaning of this phrase, there is general consensus that Solomon was, at least in part, talking about a basic, God-given human longing for a time and a place of ultimate completeness. Such a longing can and will never be completely fulfilled in our earthly lifetime. It is part of what seventeenth-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal described in the following terms: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
(Blaise Pascal, Pensees)

Gracious Heavenly Father, Thank you that even the biggest and scariest changes in my life never come as a surprise to you. Please help me remember that ultimate security is only found in you. During times of change and upheaval in my life, may you be my refuge and my solid Rock. In Jesus’ name. Amen.