Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
Ecclesiastes 2: 11 (NLT)
“Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.”
Ecclesiastes 2: 11 (The Message)
There he is, Solomon—supposedly the richest, wisest, smartest, most influential man in all the world—at that time. And by today’s standards he probably would be also.
And yet he gets to the end of his life and says—
“Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.”
Here’s what he’s saying—the “success” that society talks about, that guided him, by which he measured who he was, resides in the things of the world and in the things we do and achieve, in the stuff we acquire.
But “significance, “real meaning” in life, in a life that is worthwhile and ultimately satisfying in all settings, lies in the things of God, and in who we are inside.
And that critical difference between the two—creates a tension and conflict in us; and we find ourselves being pulled between following the ways of the world, and the ways of God. Interestingly, when the ways of the world seem to be going well—we seem to be fine, we’re at peace—we may not even notice if we are doing what He wants us to do, or not. Things are going along well, we’re winning, our career is on track, and there are no problems in our family or with our friends. But when adversity hits, when we lose, when we hit a losing streak in the world, how are we then?
Just about every worldly measure of success is based upon what we can accomplish—how much money we make, the house we live in, the car we drive, what ladders of success we climb, and in sports—how many games we win, the championships we achieve, and trophies we accumulate, and so on. We are an “accomplishment-oriented” society. Doing great things wins the prize; while being a person of significance, doing important things in God’s eyes, often takes a back seat. Having an impact on the lives of others takes a back seat to winning an SEC or a national championship, or any game to some, at least to a society whose values are based upon doing, achieving, on trophies and awards.
And Solomon says that doing all of that stuff “…was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
As Tony Campolo, pastor and professor emeritus at Eastern University in Pennsylvania reminds us—we’ve switched the price tags in society. We have it all backwards. We place what is least important before what is most important—because it brings us fame, glory, power and wealth. While God never measures us by our doing or acquiring or our status, but instead He measures us by the character of our insides, by the state of our heart.
Is it important to Him—what we do in the world? Yes, and He is watching to see if we use the gifts and abilities He has given us for the good of others and for His glory. But it is far more important to Him—who we are inside, something not possible to measure by the world’s standards.
But by emphasizing “who we are” deep down inside and becoming all who God wants us to be, instead of measuring ourselves by “doing and achieving,” we begin to live a life of significance and impact.
We begin to live a life that will carry us through those “losing streaks or lesser moments in life,” those times when we come up short of expectations, and into a life which will give us the strength and peace in the God’s overall plan for our lives.
A life that allows us to always be able to move on—no matter what happens—with confidence, with peace and an abiding hope knowing that through today and into the next day—we are always moving on with Him.
Pretty neat! I’ll take it!
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2015. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
