The author of Ecclesiastes is an example of someone was searching for such an ending. As far as he could tell everything under the sun, no matter how big or how small was "utterly meaningless"(Ecc 1:2). Two modern examples of this are found in two men from different sides of the world, John James and Nicky Cruz.
John James was much like the author of Ecclesiastes, he had it all. He was a co-founder and the lead singer of one of the fastest growing contemporary Christian bands in the world, the Newsboys. With sold-out concerts, performing in front of thousands every night, number one hits, photo shoots, sky-high record sales, screaming fans and money pouring in, John James had everything that he ever wanted, or so he thought. The fame began to set in and he soon developed an unquenchable thirst for more. In the beginning, no one noticed, they were a Christian band, so their main focus was spreading the gospel to others through music, how could you go wrong with that? As fame increased so did photo shoots, autographs and interviews causing John James' head to grow all that much larger only allowing more space for the devil to come in and take over. John started drinking, performing drunk, watching porn, didn't care about his wife and child and all the while thought that it was ok, because he had just won a grammy. His fellow band members asked him to step down from the band which accelerated his downward spiral deeper into drugs, alcohol and nothingness. It wasn't until he was at the point of suicide that he was able to accept the life changing power of Jesus back into his life once and for all. He understood that there is "a time to throw away" (Ecc. 3:6) and that's what he did. He threw away his old lifestyle and decided to "lean not on [his] own understanding" (Prov. 3:5) but that of Jesus Christ.
The second example is a man by the name of Nicky Cruz. Nicky Cruz was the son of two Puerto Rican witches. From the very beginning Nicky was witness to evil. He grew up in an abusive, love-less home where the only way to get attention was through acting out. After his move to New York City, Nicky was desperate for a 'real' family and for acceptance. He was able to find this sense of belonging among a street gang, The Mau-Maus. It didn't take long for the Mau-Maus to rise in power. With Nicky as their new leader, they were soon the most feared and most dangerous gang of New York City. This was life, this was what Nicky knew. His only life experiences had taught him violence and hatred. One brave young pastor told Nicky that God loved him. This resulted in a slap in the face and death threats. The pastor insisted and once again told Nicky of God's undying love. Again the results were negative, another slap in the face and a threat to chop up the pastor's body, but the preacher was insistent. Cruz decided to teach the preacher a lesson and decided to crash the evangelistic series that was going on. But upon their arrival at the evangelistic series the Holy Spirit began working and a short time later the many gang members, including Nicky, were converted. Nicky and his fellow gang members chose "to throw away" (Ecc. 3:6) the old and accept the new and to lean on Jesus Christ.
Both these men had control and power over their lives, but even when they were able to have everything that they wanted, nothing satisfied them until they fully surrendered to the transforming love of God.
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