Have you ever felt like you were living in a backwards world, a world where things seemed upside down and opposite from the way that they ought to be? Here in Ecclesiastes, I imagine that Solomon felt this way when he talked about life under the sun. In spite of all his wisdom and knowledge, he still couldn’t figure out why things happened the way that they did; Ecclesiastes is his journal.
While it is certainly true that we need wisdom to navigate the challenges, it is also true that wisdom doesn’t guarantee a pain-free life. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that wisdom will deliver them from life’s pressures and struggles, but it doesn’t. Even the wise and godly still live in a world that is backwards, a world that is broken and marred by the effects of the fall. God’s wisdom will lead you into joy and peace in the midst of life’s pressures, not in the absence of them. That is the message of Ecclesiastes.