Life Is A Vapor

As part of my Bible reading plan this year, I am currently reading through the book of Ecclesiastes.  I have read this book of the Bible before, but this time my perspective as a mom of a son with special needs has significantly impacted how I have responded to each passage.

Now, when I read Solomon's statement that "all is vanity (a vapor)", I agree with him in a way that I never did before. The pleasures and joys of this life truly are a vapor.  They will one day pass away.  The ESV Study Bible puts it beautifully when it says, "The fact that all is vanity (a vapor) should drive people to take refuge in God, whose work endures forever and who is a rock for those who take shelter in him."

One particular passage that God has opened my eyes to see in a new light is Ecclesiastes 2:14-16.  I know that it refers to the foolish and the wise, but as I read it I thought of Wesley.  It seems to me that this verse would equally apply to people with and without disabilities.

"The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.  And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.  Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also.  Why then have I been so very wise?"  And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.  For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten.  How the wise dies just like the fool!"

The ESV Study Bible explains that "wisdom, though infinitely better than folly, does not grant immortality to those who possess it:  the same event (death) happens to both the wise and the foolish.  To make matters still worse, even the wise are typically forgotten after their death and receive no enduring remembrance by others."  The same applies to disabilities. Whether God has created a person with many areas of gifting or with a disability, in the end that person will face death.  All of their successes in this life (or lack thereof) will be forgotten on earth and meaningless in light of eternity.

The only thing that will matter when we face death is whether or not we trusted in Jesus as our Savior while on earth.  Just as the treasures and accomplishments that I store up here on earth will be meaningless on that day, so also the lack of treasures and accomplishments that Wesley is able to store up will be equally meaningless.  It may seem disheartening to many that the wise and the foolish face the same fate, but to me these verses are of great comfort. While on this earth Wesley will never have many grand achievements, in the end the same thing will happen to him as will happen to me.  Our lives here are just a vapor, but our hope is in the promise of the forgiveness of our sins and an eternity with our Savior as children of God.