Toil is meaniningless

 Work has been so heavy lately. By "heavy" I mean both the amount of workload and it's emotionally taxing. It's year end. That's about all I can say. 

During a brief moment, I had a thought to read a section of Ecclesiastes about finding satisfaction in my work. Unfortunately, I don't. So these verses were a bit discouraging, but hopefully I can get the lesson God is trying to teach me. I feel the same as this writer: working tiresomely to give everything I make to someone else. 

 

Ecc. 2:24-26

 ¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

 ²⁴ 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, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ 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.

 

So I'm seeking the hand of God, calling out to Him to be gracious to me. I want to find satisfaction in what I do, but ultimately I desire to please Him. That's my souls passion. Ken Blanchard in his book called the "One Minute Manager" said this, "People who feel good about themselves produce good results." John Piper in his book called "Desire God" says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." I see a recurring tend being set.

OK, God, I'm ready... what do You have for me today?