When You’re Wondering, ‘Is That All There Is?’

Years ago, Peggy Lee recorded a haunting tune, “Is That All There Is?” Written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in the 1960s, it wasn’t one of those upbeat, feel-good songs. Not the kind that keeps us humming during the day with a smile on our face. Basically, the tune puts a story of disillusionment to music.

“Is That All There Is” tells about a little girl’s disappointments: She witnesses her family home go up in flames. At the age of 12 she enjoys a circus, but afterward experiences a feeling of emptiness. The girl grows up to be a woman and falls in love, but eventually that love is lost. 

 

After each loss or disappointment, the song repeats the refrain, “Is that all there is, is that all there is? If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing. Let’s break out the booze and have a ball, if that’s all there is.” In other words, when life lets you down, focus on the distractions of the present moment.

 

This is hardly a new perspective. King Solomon of Israel expressed similar sentiments more profoundly thousands of years ago. Describing his life, the king honestly wrote, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11). Other translations express it, “vanity, all is vanity” or “everything is futile.” Solomon might as well have been singing, “Is that all there is?”

 

Chris Simpson speaking at 
the annual Chattanooga
Leadership Prayer Breakfast.

At the recent Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast, speaker Chris Simpson shared his life story, recounting how he had risen from a family of modest means to achieve great success in college, the military, and then in the U.S. Secret Service, serving under seven different Presidents. Any casual observer would have concluded, ‘That guy has it made!’ And outwardly, Simpson certainly did. 

Except inwardly, he too was wondering, ‘Is that all there is?’ Like King Solomon, as Simpson appraised his many accomplishments, terms like meaningless, vanity, and futility must have been marching through his mind. That all changed, he explained, when he decided to stop chasing after worldly success and recognition, choosing to follow Jesus Christ instead.

 

Over the years I’ve met and interviewed dozens of high achievers like Simpson, people who had devoted their lives to climbing the proverbial “ladder of success,” only to discover it was leaning against the wrong wall. Great amounts of time, energy and talent invested, and for what? Only when they experienced life-changing encounters with Christ did life take on true meaning.

 

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon did not remain stuck in a dismal tale of woe and dissatisfaction. He learned that in the midst of this transitory life, he could experience fulfillment in a relationship with God. He observed, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him – for this is his lot” (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

 

And the king closed with this declaration: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

 

Today, Chris Simpson appreciates the successes he attained, but has a new mission. Instead of serving Presidents he’s representing the King of kings, living out 2 Corinthians 5:20 which says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

 

As president of CBMC International, Simpson travels the world, meeting with business and professional people and telling them his story. He has gone from emptiness to fulness, discovering the truth of Christ’s promise, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). 

 

This assurance is available to us all, no matter where we find ourselves in life. When we reach the point of asking, “Is that all there is?” Jesus is waiting to fulfill His promise, as another translation states it, “that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”