“Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all,” wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1850. A powerful statement. Is it true? Solomon seems to say the opposite—it is better to have never been born than to have loved and lost—in Eccl 4:1–3. Who’s right? Short answer: they’re both right. Long answer: let me explain.
What Solomon says in Eccl 4:1–3, Job and Jeremiah also say of themselves. Job 10:19 reads, “If only I had never come to be.” Jeremiah 15:10 reads, “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me.” Both Job and Jeremiah express the difficulty of life. Life can become so difficult that we might plunge into moments of despair which are so dark that we wish we had never been born. Job, Jeremiah, and Solomon say the same thing. This doesn’t mean that life is not worth living. It is. Even in the darkest of times, life is worth living. God’s grace is always present There is always hope.
What these passages show us is this: God understands the difficulty we feel. God put these passages in Scripture to assure us that He gets us. How we feel—even in our darkest moments—doesn’t catch God by surprise. Any and every feeling we have is mentioned in Scripture. God is with us through all of it—in joy and in despair. If you’re feeling terrible, tell God. He gets it. Some of the godliest people who have ever lived have felt the same way. You’re in good company. Is life worth living? Yes. However, can life be very hard? Yes. God understands.
Pastor Chance
