Where do we find meaning and fulfillment for this life? We’re all searching for it, but where do we find it?
King Solomon was granted the gift of wisdom by God. He was made to be the wisest man ever to live, knowing more than anyone else. Yet, he too struggled to find meaning and fulfillment in this life that would be here one day and gone the next. The book of Ecclesiastes is his quest to find what he was missing.
The problem was, Solomon had temporarily fallen away from his God and his search was limited to what could be found “under the sun”. Under the sun is what we see. Under the sun is what is here and now. However, meaning and fulfillment for this life cannot be found under the sun because this is all temporary. Without an eternal perspective and the big picture, we are left desperately wanting.
Solomon sets out on a quest to find the life meaning he desired and the fulfillment he was missing through 3 things:
- More wisdom.
- More pleasure.
- More success.
Yesterday, in episode #1713 “You Won’t Understand” we look at what happens when we insist on trying to understand the mysteries of our unsearchable God. What Solomon found, in chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes is he simply couldn’t figure all of this out. Even as the smartest man to ever live, he could not understand the things of God and he ended up discouraged and convinced everything was meaningless.
And without God, it is. Without the promise of eternity, this is all just a waste because we’re here, then we’re gone. This wild ride ends in certain death. But with the eternal perspective of God, everything matters because it’s all leading to so much more than what is just “under the sun.”
Solomon’s quest for more wisdom brings us to the same place as our own demands for answers and understanding … unfulfilled and without meaning. We don’t find meaning and fulfillment in more wisdom because we will never understand all the things of God.
Now, Solomon moves on to his second quest. Ecclesiastes 2:1-3, “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.”
I’m a fun girl. On the ennegram, I’m a 7. 7’s are labeled as the enthusiasts for life. We’re the ones who are perpetually excited and get everyone else excited. We make everything more fun. That’s a great thing – a gift. But every gift must be managed or it becomes a curse. Every unbalanced strength threatens to become a weakness to our own detriment. There’s never a boring or dull moment with us 7’s. Do you know why … because we tend to find surface level meaning and fulfillment from pleasure.
Here’s the problem … when we can’t make it fun, when there’s a lack of excitement in our days, we feel totally empty. Then we start searching for a way to fill that emptiness. What we typically find is a dangerously unhealthy temporary fix.
Example … alcohol. Isn’t it crazy that is exactly what Solomon did. Keep reading verse 3, he says, “After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.”
Jesus warned us, “In this world you will have problems”, so this means it won’t always be fun and exciting. There will be tough times. There will be hard days. The fun will run out. The excitement will wear down. The entertainment won’t be so entertaining any more. Then you’re left with the emptiness you were trying to fill … a dull ache that questions, what’s the point in all of this if it won’t last?
The point is, beyond the fun we can create and beyond the excitement of temporary pleasures, there’s a God who designed us for so much more. And his design of you and I includes that God sized hole within that only he can fill.
If this life were all there was, then pleasure would be the only point. Like Solomon mistakenly said, in chapter 8, verse 5, “So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”
Again, Solomon had fallen away from God. He has lost faith in the unseen and focused only on what he could understand and control under the sun. We must pause here and see that Solomon is wrong. He’s not wrong that it’s good to enjoy the life we have been given. However, he is totally wrong to assume we should enjoy this because this is all there is.
The delights of life are not meant to drug and addict us into living foolishly, but these joys that lift our spirits and make us smile are invigorating gifts from God. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having fun. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying life. There’s nothing wrong with being excited about exciting things. What is wrong is to be addicted to those things.
Imagine if your child only comes to you to receive your gifts. That would hurt your heart, wouldn’t it? If their only motive in communication with you or relationship was the next gift you could give them so that they could play and have fun, that would be a very limited relationship. That’s the way we start treating God when we only pursue the pleasures and joys of life.
God, if you don’t have a gift of something fun for me today, then I’m out. Call me again when you can make it exciting.
Ouch … guilty.
When I first started hosting Retreats 14 years ago, my focus was on fun. The intention was to pack as much fun, excitement, adventure and laughter into a weekend as possible and send you home overflowing with happy memories. Sounds great … but the problem is, that was all it was about.
I left out God.
There was no deeper purpose. It was all surface level.
Looking back, I realize this is precisely why I encountered more drama than any one person could handle. More chaos than I was prepared to coordinate. More discouragement and disappointment and struggles to make it all come together.
I had missed the point. It couldn’t be all about the fun. It couldn’t be all hype and excitement. Retreat had to reach beyond that. God had to be at the center and absolutely saturate every detail. Once I invited him into the middle and let our fun and excitement be about Him, then everything changed.
Retreats sold out immediately and we went from hosting 2 a year to 1 or more every month. The chaos and drama was eliminated. His fingerprints are seen on every tiny detail and we have the honor of witnessing lives truly changed and impacted, and dang do we ever have fun in the process!
God had to show me the fun was meaningless without him.
God loves to give his girls gifts, but the gifts are not the point of the relationship. The point of this relationship is to guide us into a life that reaches far beyond this and into eternity. Life is not lived only for this life. There’s eternity in your heart.
You are literally designed for eternity. And this design is precisely why you will never find meaning and fulfillment through temporary pleasures and fun. That’s not who you really are. We mistakenly dive head first off that cliff, but we find an emptiness that can never be filled. Fun cannot be our focus. Pleasure is not the point. Excitement is not everything.
Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came so that you may have life, and have it to the full.” That’s a BIG life here, yes. That’s a life full of potential and possibility while you are here. But it doesn’t stop here. The life Jesus came to offer you reaches beyond your existence in your earthly experience. This is the appetizer, girl, save your fork! You haven’t even dared to imagine the beauty of what lies beyond this.
Beyond this, beyond what Solomon refers to as ‘under the sun’, is an eternity with our Maker and our Savior. An eternity of divine perfection and delight. A never-ending reward earned only by our faith in Jesus.
We’re all just on our way there.
May we enjoy the journey, but never become addicted to the joy and forget where it’s all leading. Meaning and fulfillment isn’t found in pleasure. It’s not found in fun. Those are sweet temporary gifts from God for our journey. But our destination is the reward!
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