Everything is Meaningless?

I needed a word from the Lord about my writing, my relationships, my life. When I cracked the Bible, the book fell open to Ecclesiastes 1:1 and I started reading.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Okaaay… Not the answer I was expecting so I read on.

“What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever…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. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new?’ It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.”

Wisdom is meaningless. Pleasure is meaningless. Toil is meaningless. So then what? If everything is meaningless, why do? Why strive? Why be? I kept reading.

“What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

To the man who pleases God, he gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness!

Happiness…

Hmmm, I think I’m starting to see the big picture. I’m not sure why, but sometimes I tend to have a negative bent toward life. I’m the-glass-is-half-empty kind of girl. Maybe it’s because of past life circumstances, maybe I was born this way, but it’s hard for me to see the good until I’ve over-analyzed the bad, dealt with my emotions, and then left Jesus to do the healing.

I also struggle with what I call The Green Eyed Monster.

So I think what God is trying to tell me is that everything I’m striving for or wishing for or envious of is meaningless. Everything outside of Him is meaningless. And that I should keep my eye on Him, on pleasing Him. That’s where I find meaning. (Sure, I knew that, but maybe I just needed a reminder.)

Which leads me to another question?…

How can I please God?

How do you please God?

Definitely worth digging into another day!