Chasing the Wind: Seeking Satisfaction Under the Sun

There is an answer to that question. It's not nobody knows. It's God knows. What Solomon is trying to point us to is that the satisfaction solution is a relationship with God. It's a relationship with God. There was a hospice nurse in Australia and her entire career was spent by the bedside of people who were dying in hospice. When she retired she wrote a book called the top five regrets of the dying. [01:01:01] (41 seconds)  #GodKnows

And I don't have the time to do all five, but among them people would say things like, I wish I hadn't worried so much. Things always worked out. Things just seemed to work out. I wish I hadn't worried so much. I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends. I wish I hadn't postponed joy until later. I wish I hadn't postponed doing things with my wife or I wish I hadn't postponed doing things with my kids, but the number one regret which showed up especially in men, but I would say that probably as generations move forward it'll be present in women as well, and that is I wish I hadn't worked so much. [01:01:42] (45 seconds)  #RegretsOfTheDying

That is soul satisfaction. That's where you find it. Let's pray together. Father, we come before you this morning openly admitting that we have chased the wind, we have pursued the next big thing, we have sought and tried to fill this longing within us and yet that vacuum, that hole in our soul is shaped perfectly for you to fill. So father, I pray for those who've never trusted Christ that today would be a day that we trust him, that we give our lives to him. Father, I pray for those who need to make that decision that today would be that day in Jesus name. Amen. [01:04:18] (59 seconds)  #FindSoulSatisfaction

So what if that verse read as it literally reads, all of a person's labor is for his stomach, yet the soul, the soul is never satisfied. That's what I believe Solomon is driving at. We have all of these outward things. They look so impressive. Live two thousand years, have a 100 kids, have wealth and honor and position and power and yet your soul is empty. [00:51:49] (30 seconds)  #SoulNotSatisfied

Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. Here's what Solomon is saying. Stop chasing illusions. Be satisfied with what you have. Better what your eyes can see than daydreaming about what might be better. Daydreaming about what might be. Stop stop daydreaming and stop chasing illusions of grandeur. Be content with what you have. Be content with the spouse that you have. Be content with the house that you live in. Now it's not wrong to want to better yourself, but if that's your driving pursuit, then it will leave you empty. [00:55:23] (56 seconds)  #ChooseContentment

But I still believe the words of Romans eight twenty eight that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That is God's providence and somehow God uses even the hard things, even the painful things, even the disappointments in life, even the hurts. God can cause all of those things that we look at, say those are bad and God can use them for our good and for his glory. [00:57:23] (37 seconds)  #AllThingsForGood

In the ancient world especially, there were three markers of a blessed successful life. The three markers were this, wealth, children, and a long life. If you had wealth, if you had a bunch of children, and if you lived a long time, you were considered to have lived a blessed and successful life that God had shown his favor upon you. And so Solomon is going to say, but here's a tragedy. What if you had all three and you felt your life still didn't really have meaning and purpose? [00:35:29] (51 seconds)  #RethinkSuccess

One of the ways in which we find satisfaction for our souls is in the discipline of daily gratitude. In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. You wanna know what God's will is? That you give thanks in everything. That's what God's will is. And you're like, but Bob, right now it's hard. Yeah. Yes, it is. And I don't fully understand always how this works. I really don't. [00:56:44] (39 seconds)  #DailyGratitude

I can't get no satisfaction, but it is not a modern problem. It is an ancient problem because when we read from chapter six of Ecclesiastes, what we find is that Solomon too was on a search for satisfaction. Solomon was a man who was constantly seeking to fill some emptiness that he experienced. There was an itch that he could not scratch. There was a thirst that he could not quench. And that's what we're going to experience in this chapter of Ecclesiastes. [00:31:24] (44 seconds)  #QuestForSatisfaction

And what I would say to you is that the same thing is very true for us. We are a generation, we are a society because it's multiple generations. We are a society of satisfaction seekers And we think that it's going to come in the next gadget or in the next vacation or in the next new vehicle or in the next level of success in our business. We think that it's going to come when we have children. We think that it's going to come when we get rid of those children and send them off to college or get them married. We think that the next thing, whatever the next thing is, is going to bring us satisfaction. [00:32:08] (43 seconds)  #SatisfactionSeekers

There is no enjoyment in it for that person. Now I have to remind you that in chapter five, Solomon sort of came down at the end of the money mirage and he says, but here's the key, just enjoy what God's given you, treat it as a gift, be grateful and and enjoy the blessings of God. But what if you don't? Solomon says, what if you've got all these things and you you can't enjoy them? [00:38:26] (31 seconds)  #EnjoyGodsGifts

I realize that in our culture, we've kind of turned this upside down. But please understand that biblically children are a blessing. Biblically children are not a burden. That's what our culture tells you. Biblically, children are a blessing. That's what Psalm one twenty seven verse three says. Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Children are a blessing and if a man had a 100 children, well he's a 100 times blessed. [00:42:38] (39 seconds)  #ChildrenAreBlessings

Now Solomon gets really dark in this passage. Some of you almost cringed when I read it, and and I agree. If I was ever gonna skip over some verses, I would just skipped over these. I would have because this is a hard passage to wrestle with. How in the world does Solomon compare saying a man who has a 100 children, has all this wealth and honor, that a stillborn child, a child who never takes a breath is better off than him. [00:43:30] (34 seconds)  #DifficultTruths

Solomon is using hyperbole. He is using the most extreme example he could possibly think of in order to make his point. Solomon is saying that a child that never fully developed, never never never really experienced life would go into the arms of God. That's what we believe happens biblically when a child dies, that that child goes immediately into the arms of God. And for Solomon, he would say, they never knew struggle, they never knew sin, they never knew suffering, and they just get to enjoy the presence of God. [00:44:13] (43 seconds)  #ChildInGodsArms

I want to say this, this is just an aside, it's really not part of the sermon, but some of you have experienced the loss of a child and I want to assure you that biblically that child is in the arms of Jesus. So when you struggle with that, what what I want you to do is just entrust them to the only one who could ever love them more than you. The only one who's ever loved them more than you is holding them. [00:45:10] (41 seconds)  #ChildInArmsOfJesus

If you choose career and cats over children, you got a problem because that's what's going on. In our culture, a couple of generations that have just moved into adulthood are essentially saying, I don't want children, I want freedom. I don't want children, I wanna do what I wanna do. I don't want children, I don't want that responsibility. And God gives us children as one of the greatest discipleship sanctification tools in our lives. You have a child, your prayer life will improve. I guarantee it will. It will. [00:46:55] (41 seconds)  #FamilyOverFreedom

Have you ever been hungry but you didn't know what you were hungry for? See, you tried a little of this and that didn't satisfy you, you tried a little of this and that didn't satisfy you, and you tried a little of that and that didn't satisfy you. All of a man's labor is forced somewhat, yet his appetite is not satisfied. There's something gnawing, something empty. But here's something really really interesting about that verse of scripture. [00:50:55] (22 seconds)  #UnsatisfiedDespiteSuccess

But this guy has all of the outward appearance of this success and position and power and it's a charade. And Solomon says, is it all just a charade? All all of these things that we think are blessings when your soul is not satisfied? Now Solomon kind of leaves us twisting in the wind here and we're like, man, is there is there any kind of something to hang on to here? The answer is yes. [00:54:08] (39 seconds)  #SuccessIsACharade

The answer is yes, especially if you understand that that expression that we're look what we're looking for is not sort of to fill our appetite, but to satisfy our soul. So let's talk for just a few minutes about the satisfaction solution. The satisfaction solution. And it's here in verse nine. Verse nine. Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile in the pursuit of the wind. [00:54:47] (36 seconds)  #SatisfactionSolution

Because we put so much stock in stuff and we think that this next big thing is gonna satisfy us, whatever the next big thing is, and it simply doesn't. And then Solomon turns us to the source of our satisfaction. Look at verse 10. Whatever exists was given its name long ago and it is known what mankind is, but he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. Now that's a hint. That's a hint. [00:59:41] (38 seconds)  #StuffDoesntSatisfy