This world is full of people walking around with a lonely empty void inside of them…I call it “the hole in my heart”…That hard to define vacuum gives most people an uneasy sense of incompleteness; something is lacking in life.
King Solomon wrote extensively about this human condition in Ecclesiastes…
Ecclesiastes 1:8– Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
And the lengths people go to try to define, and then fill, the void are amazing…I, myself, tried everything under the sun: relationships, accomplishments in my career and personal life, going places in the world, buying stuff (houses, fast cars, boats, all kinds of materialism).
Ecclesiastes 2:1-4–I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world. I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.
But what happens after experiencing various…or all…combinations of those worldly endeavors is that we find that the void…or emptiness…is still there…No contentment, no love, no joy…A sense of “that’s not it,” can lead to more searching and a depressed spirit.
Ecclesiastes 2:11– 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.
Solomon had everything a person could want. But here he says that he came to see that “it was all so meaningless.” What happened? His marvelous accomplishments left him sour because he pursued them as a means to personal satisfaction. Personal satisfaction, by itself, is empty because we are alone in the enjoyment we receive.
After all his searching Solomon concluded in:
Ecclesiastes7:28-29–Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”
Years later, Paul came to the same conclusions… and also addressed the remedy for the emptiness in our lives…
Paul writes in: Philippians 3:7-9– I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
The only real solution to the endless cycle of searching… is to focus on the Lord and to let Him help.
As Solomon and Paul…two guys who had it all…concluded: Everything we have on this earth (possessions, relationships, money, status, accomplishments) is temporary and meaningless compared to God’s love for us; and the eternal companionship He offers us when we walk with Him.
My Prayer For This Day:
My Dear Lord, neediness in worldly terms is considered to be a weakness… And I have been told that I was too needy for a healthy “of the world” relationship; when in fact what I was needy for was a lasting relationship with my Holy Father… My relationship with You is filling up the emptiness in my heart; and is being replaced with gladness and joy; knowing that I’ll be with you. Lord, I depend on you and I need you every moment of the day.