Conformity = Contentment?

Solomon’s conclusion to all his searching, wisdom and observation?:

‘God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.'
Ecclesiastes 7:29.

God originally created man ‘upright’, I thought I understood what that meant until I read this definition which sheds a whole new light on this word;
upright— right/without any imperfection or corruption, conformable to God’s nature and will, after His own likeness.

It is an interesting definition and it makes the verse clearer and probably more challenging. It shows that God’s original intention was for us to be His perfect creation, He made us well and put inside each of us the ability to conform - to do what God desires.
Yet, our human desire is for rebellion not conformity. We get drummed into us by society that we are born to stand out not blend in, that to be different is unique, diverse and desirable. It is not cool to blend in, to conform, to follow the rules and seek unity with God. Instead we want to get away from sameness and seek difference. We even search out ‘many schemes’ for ourselves to demonstrate our individuality and uniqueness, but in this quest we are running away from the very quality that has been instilled in us since the moment of our creation - the ability to conform to God’s will and nature.

Our actual nature is inherently designed to blend in with that of God’s, and to display Him instead of our own individual, different selves. We are created not to be a unique individual but to be in the likeness of God. We have been born to be upright - we have the inbuilt ability to do this, so why don’t we?
Is it because we have fallen into society’s trap of diversity? Have we believed that we are built for something else? Have we been trained to desire difference and diversity instead of conformity and contentment? Have we schemed throughout our lives to be more different?

To strive after something that we are not created for is hardwork. One of the hardest things for me to understand is electronics, if I tried really hard I could probably understand it, but it’s a lot of hard work and actually wears me out and gives me a headache! Whereas, naturally, I am pretty good at maths. I like logic problems and sums, they make sense to me - wires don’t. I can learn, I can get better, but I am not naturally wired (haha) that way - so why force myself to become something I am not designed to be? I have gifts in other areas. I see a correlation to this in this verse. Why do we strive after those things that we are not naturally built for? We are just making harder work for ourselves! We are created to conform to God’s will and nature, so why fight against it, plot our own way or scheme with society to become something different?

As a human race we, ‘have sought out many schemes’. What does this mean but that we have searched for different plans, different ways of doing things. We are inquisitive creatures by nature, and we like to create, invent and  understand. However, the word used here, ‘schemes’ implies a hidden agenda, it has a negative connotation, it suggests a sneaky application. When we scheme we tend to do things a but underhand, a bit secretive, with an intent that is not-so-innocent. So why do we ‘scheme’ to not be upright? when we are, in fact, created for an upright life.

We have a void inside us that yearns for acceptance, love, contentment. We can spend many schemes, much time, our whole lives even searching for some kind of fulfilment. Yet this verse provides the answer - we are built for unity not uniqueness. We are designed to be upright, it is in our very core, this means we are meant to be joined with the nature of God, but this makes us uncomfortable and we prefer not to conform, it’s not cool!  So we look for this internal satisfaction in different schemes. We may try; fame, commendation, power, authority, wealth, health or relationships in order to attempt to fill the emptiness inside. But how does this work out for you? Have you found satisfaction or disappointment in these ‘schemes’?

The relief, joy or contentment our schemes bring are only a momentary satisfaction. The desire to gain more always comes and we scheme in our minds to make that ok, we convince ourselves that what we are doing is alright, that in fact it is good for us, and it may well be, to an extent. The things that we allow to bring us contentment can bring joy and relief, but not long-standing contentment. This can only be provided by accepting the real purpose of our lives. The longing that will last is to accept that we are created to conform to the character of God. We are created for unity not uniqueness.

God cannot fit into your schemes, but can you fit into HIs?