When We Are Finished Chasing The Wind

Have you ever pursued success and felt like you were chasing the wind? Do you ever look around at the success of others and wonder if your life really matters? I saw a photo of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce holding hands as they walked out of Arrowhead Stadium together after the record cold Kansas City Chiefs game in January and I wondered what it would be like to be her. I’ll bet there are a million women who have had the same thought and—a million men who have wanted to be Kelce. Hundreds of thousands of people are going gaga over their romance. It seems like they “have it all” and by comparison our life often seems dull and meaningless.

None of us are immune to falling into this pattern of thought!

But—the only time I begin to think this way is when I forget how wonderful God has made my life. He’s allowing me to live in the greatest story anyone will ever write—the story of eternal redemption that points others to Christ! He didn’t create me for the fleeting fame of my own earthly stardom. Travis and Taylor still have problems—just like everyone else. While it may seem like we have unequal physical blessings…we ALL have been given EQUAL opportunity for spiritual blessings.

God created each of us for His glory!

Through our personal gift of salvation, He gives EACH of us an EQUAL opportunity to shine for His glory. We were not created to be an earthly superstar or even—to be near one or like one! Those superstar people are nothing without the crowd who made them popular. But God is glorious in and of Himself! And—WE were created to glorify this omniscient, omnipotent, loving God. He made us and cares so much for us that He thought we were worth dying for! Has any person on earth done anything that compares with what He did and does for us? So why would we do just about anything to be close buddies with someone famous—but not dedicate significant time and energy getting close to God? 

We must consider why we want to glorify another human when God created us for HIS glory.

Ah, I believe it’s because we allow our enemies to deceive us. We get our thinking backwards. We forget that we were created for God’s glory. We forget we are more than a body—we were designed with an eternal soul and spirit. We have a critical mission to bring others to the saving knowledge of Christ. My friend, what do others see when they look at Taylor and Travis? They see Taylor and Travis, right? The fact is—while we may not have the same earthly talents—we are given the SAME opportunity to glorify God. So when people look at you—who do they see? Who do they want to know more about? Who do they want to be like??? Is it you? Or is it HIM?

My friend, without Jesus, none of us have much to give. 

But IN CHRIST we have all the most critical and valuable assets—the stuff money can’t buy! When we are born again, we have the ability to possess AND give away the fruits of HIS Spirit. 

It doesn’t matter how rich and famous you are—God’s love, joy and peace are never for sale. 

King Solomon had immense wealth, vast wisdom, unlimited access to sex, children, palaces, thousands of servants, and the most powerful military in the world. After he obtained everything in the world that his heart had ever desired, he wrote: 

“So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was NOTHING to be gained under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

How could the man who had it ALL, say that ALL he had was NOTHING and it all was like “striving after the wind???“

Because Solomon ALSO knew the truth about God. He went on to write: 

“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and striving after the wind.”

Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:24-26

Solomon, the richest and wisest man to ever live, learned that—apart from God—there is no satisfaction found in the things of this world. Without God at our center, nothing will ever satisfy us! God is our source of supreme satisfaction. When we seek Him first, He makes everything else in life satisfying. God’s physical blessings are only satisfying when they are enjoyed in His presence. Anything we pursue more than we pursue God is like—chasing the wind.

When we make God our center we are supremely satisfied!

We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.

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