What’s the point?

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king of Jerusalem: 2 ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ 3 What do people gain from all their labours at which they toil under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1)

“Meaningless! Meaningless! … Utterly meaningless!” Those words from The Teacher in Ecclesiastes can feel brutally honest, especially when you’ve poured effort into something and still ended up disappointed. Sometimes disappointment doesn’t just sting; it shakes our sense of purpose. We ask, What’s the point? By the time this is published things might be resolved, but this week, people in the area are reeling under the news that Abbotsholme school is suddenly to close leaving the staff unpaid. We all face many disappointments in life, and I want to show how our faith can help us cope with them.

In a world that often demands fixed answers, Ecclesiastes reminds us that life doesn’t always deliver the result we were hoping for. Faith doesn’t deny disappointment. Instead, it gives us a way to keep walking through it with hope intact. You could say that your faith can help you reframe a disappointment, not as a defeat, but as part of God’s seasons.

Ecclesiastes speaks of seasons for everything: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. (I know many people have this reading at their wedding.) Disappointment may feel permanent in the moment, but faith teaches us that it is not the final chapter. God works within rhythms, planting and uprooting, tearing and mending, silence and speaking. When you trust that there is “a season for everything,” disappointment becomes something you pass through, not something you must surrender to.

Many philosophies suggest purpose is something you create. Existentialists emphasize choosing your own direction; others point to well-being, altruism, or spiritual growth. As Christians, we affirm that your purpose matters, but we also ground it in God. Disappointment often reveals what we were trying to control. Faith gently redirects our focus: not only on what we wanted to happen, but on what God is shaping in us through the waiting.

In other words, faith helps you say, “What I can’t change, I can bring to God. What I can’t find in results, I can find in obedience, character, and love.”

When disappointment tempts us toward bitterness, faith calls us to practice wise “rules of life”: make peace with your past, stop comparing yourself, give it time, and don’t surrender your joy to other people’s opinions. These aren’t just self-help tips, they’re pathways of trust.

And faith doesn’t only comfort; it also motivates. Altruistic purpose, serving others, building up your community, can restore dignity when your own dreams fall short.

Ecclesiastes still names pain: a time to search and a time to give up. But Christian faith doesn’t leave us there. It teaches that God can heal what disappointment breaks, and that love never loses its meaning, even when the outcome hurts.

Jesus went through real suffering on the cross – He is one with his followers, He has been there. Let’s continue to follow our saviour.

So when the world echoes “What’s the point?”, faith answers with a deeper truth: God is still at work, and your life is still held in His hands.

3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3)

Brian Leathers June 2026