Saturday, July 24, 2021

Meaningless!!



Good Morning! It's Saturday!

I woke in the wee hours of the morning and as usual my thoughts started going and sleep evaded me....my go to, calm your mind and thoughts comfort, is always God's Word......always.....My reading through the Bible in a year began in Ecclesiastes today. One of my favorite books of the Old Testament. Solomon is the richest man of his time. He begins a search for happiness by using his money to buy everything you can think of.....from palaces to.....wives........Those who know the ending to the story know that.....hmmmm....for those who don't, I won't be a spoiler....at least not right now. Pick up a Bible and read it for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

You'd think Solomon and his fortune would be so unrelatable to the average middle class person today. But not so! You don't have to be Jeff Bezos to search for happiness. Your search may not be going into space in a rocket but certainly you could wish for something you don't have now that you think might make you happy. I know I have. After my beloved was killed......I was crushed. I bought ANYTHING that would remotely give me an instant drop of "happiness". In my resonable brain I knew that would never happen. In my deep sadness of my soul it was a boost of sunshine, even if temporary. It was so painful, it didn't take much.....certainly not millions. If money could buy my beloved back from the dead I would have begged, borrowed and stolen and......I'd still do it to this day...... but slowly, like Solomon, I begin to understand that nothing, absolutely nothing can buy happiness that is permanant....not in this life, here on earth.......

These last 10 days have been some of the most stressful since "that" day. All the money in the world couldn't alleviate what I've had to live through. The sheer stress of it all....if I could purchase a magic pill that would erase it? Not dull it, not escape from it, but take it away. Can money buy it? Nope! Could money prevent additional scans? Could money prevent surgery and biopsy? I will acknowledge that what I've been going through would be fairly routine for some. They would hear what the doctors said differently. They may focus on the positive. They would hear "low risk" while I heard "we want to make sure it's not...........". We are all different. What is huge to me may be very small to someone else. What we long for and dream about is unique to each of us.

I absolutely love Solomon's opening words. Maybe this will peak your interest to read if you haven't.

"What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:3‭-‬9 NIV

Solomon proclaims it all to be, "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" (NIV) Another translation calls it, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" (ESV)

"I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 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 2:3‭-‬11 NIV


And as I walked through these last ten days, while very, very scared, I, for the first time, didn't turn to the pleasures of this earth and momentary happiness.....I turned to my Father who is with me now and will be waiting for me with open arms when I depart from this earth. He is solid. He is the promise. He is lasting. He is forever.

While I can't relate to the riches of some.....I can certainly relate to searching for relief from pain, believing that money can buy happiness, that instant gratification is lasting, that striving and striving to be something I'm simply not....yes, I can relate. But then Solomon says these words:

SPOILER ALERT!!

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."
Ecclesiastes 12:13‭-‬14 NIV


And hearing those words brings comfort to my heart and a rest unlike anything I could ever conjure up on my own. Fear God? Yes, a deep reverence for his awesomeness. A genuine respect for what he's done for me. Keeping his commandments? Never perfectly because I acknowledge I will never be perfect in this life but yes, continually, seeking him and holding fast to his promises will help me to be the best witness I can be. This is my duty, my job, my commitment. Each new day will bring it's challenges but I have an advocate that dwells within me to hold me up, who is my strength....my light in the darkness. Today I'm really thankful that God directed me to read Ecclesiastes and that Solomon blazed a path that shows me from beginning to end why I'm seated exactly where I should be right now.

Have a beautiful day! Be the hands and feet of Jesus!

❤❤❤🖐🖐👣👣

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