Striving After the Wind

“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.”

I was recently reading through Ecclesiastes thinking, “I’m glad I don’t waste my life striving after the wind,” when I realized the irony in my thought. In fact, I was reading through the book more out of obligation and for a feeling of accomplishment than I was looking for life change. I need to look carefully at my gross negligence to see what the Word was trying to tell me.

When I stopped to think about how I might be pursuing worthless things, I was flooded with conviction about my ambitions for my life. I’d like to be important—to be respected, to wield influence, to have a voice. I’d like to see and experience more of the world—to travel to more countries, to try more novel things and to visit more significant, historic, and beautiful places. I want to read more books, hear more speakers, meet more people. Yikes—I am striving.

As I began reading Ecclesiastes, I patted myself on the back for not going after a well-paying job, not trying to be the president of the United States, and not striving for the American norm of a wife

and three kids in a 3 bedroom house with two cars parked in the garage (at least not too actively). I’d like to think I’m already above being deceived by the enticing things of this world. But I’m not. And when I think I’m not attracted to the world, that’s when I am most deceived.

There is much striving in the heart of man, though even the most successful of men are not satisfied. Even wisdom, which makes life much better, only leads to the same fate.

The writer of Ecclesiastes mourns that the unjust can go unpunished and the righteous can go unrewarded in this world. He writes the futility in life’s ambitions. Stop striving for success; you will be forgotten. Stop seeking fortune; you will never be satisfied. Stop waiting to find something to do; you will never do anything.

As I look towards my future and try to figure out what I’m supposed to do, I often become overwhelmed with the options and the weight of decision. I’d like God to come to me in an audible voice to tell me what to do.

Am I worried I’ll waste my life?

Am I concerned I won’t be successful enough if I do not have a clear calling from God to do something big for Him?

Is not God pleased with obedience in the little things?

Can I not love God well by being faithful every day?

Being in India has given me much more down time than life in the United States. Sometimes I spend days doing almost nothing productive. The power goes out, we don’t have the resources we need or I get sick, and then my time is spent in waiting. I can get frustrated from ending a day without feeling I’ve achieved anything, but I can also take on the Indian mindset of being okay with whatever comes. In those times I can rest in God’s love for me, enjoy the company of others, and soak in my environment. During busy days I don’t really do much anyway. The world is a big, big place, and thinking I can change it is just striving after meaninglessness. Jesus already saved the world, and my job is to tell others about it. Following Him is the best way to live.

“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun” (8:15).

As I read Ecclesiastes, I felt God saying that obeying Him is about living well every day. Yeah, pretty basic; I know. To live life to the fullest, I should enjoy the food I eat, the beauty I see, and the work that I do, but not forget the LORD. Big life decisions will play out as time goes by. No man knows the future, so don’t bother being anxious. Seek wisdom and seek God’s will, but ultimately just go work; and whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

Stop striving and be satisfied with what you have and where you are. While wisely enjoying your life, “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).