“As people spin faster and faster in the pursuit of merely personal happiness, they become exhausted in the futile effort of chasing themselves.” – Andrew Delbanco

“And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.  There was no profit under the sun.” – King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:11

Are you happy with your life right now?  If so, what is at the center of that happiness?  If you’re not happy, what is missing?  What do you long for that would give you greater joy, provide deeper meaning, and make it more gratifying – worth living again?

I hope you give these questions some deep thought – writing down what comes to mind as you contemplate how satisfied you are with the direction and quality of your life right now.

King Solomon spent years immersed in these kinds of questions.  He was seeking the source of what provided for a happy, fulfilling and meaningful existence here on earth.  If you wanted to read his personal dissertation on the matter, you can find it in the Book of Ecclesiastes – found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

At first, he thought it lied in attaining great wisdom and understanding – the ability to know the meaning behind “the madness and folly” that makes up life.  But he found the more wisdom you acquired about how life really worked “under the sun”, it led to greater levels of grief and sorrow (Ecclesiastes 1:18). 

Haven’t you felt the same way?  When you truly study how this world works, the underlying greed, selfishness, hardships, and suffering, it leaves you shaking your head in disgust and hurt over the futility of it ever changing.

He then turned his attention to pleasure – doing everything possible to be happy within every moment.  “Whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them.  I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.” (Ecclesiastes 2:10) Solomon had great wealth, lived in elaborate palaces and built beautiful gardens, vineyards, and orchards.  He had thousands of servants, hundreds of wives, and also hundreds of concubines.  There wasn’t a single pleasure on Earth he couldn’t continually experience, and yet it left him empty – a “grasping for the wind”.

He then turned to working hard and attaining great wealth – but that too he found as a great evil filled with vanity.  He saw the senselessness of working hard to acquire wealth that you cannot take with you when you leave this world for the next – only passing it over when you die to men who didn’t work at all for it (Ecclesiastes 2: 20-23).  He saw how riches can perish through misfortune (Ecclesiastes 5: 14), and realized the sorrow, sickness, and anger that always accompanied the stress of striving – working long, diligent hours to acquire great wealth (verse 17 of that same chapter).

When you look hard at the list you developed earlier, the things that provide meaning to your life and those things that are missing, is there anything that correlates to “grasping for the wind”?

“My spouse doesn’t make me happy anymore.  I need to leave and find someone who is a better fit with me – someone who will bring greater joy and happiness to my life.”

“If I could just get my house paid off and my credit cards paid down a bit, life would be so much easier!”

“If I can get that promotion at work, the bigger salary and benefits would make life so sweet!”

“I don’t really know what I want to do with my life right now, but I know I will need a college degree to at least get in the door with any employer…..so I’d better start working toward a degree of some kind.”

“Money makes the world go round!  Without it, you can’t pursue dreams or live the kind of carefree lifestyle that makes living enjoyable!”

“I love my management job because it makes me feel like someone important. The self-esteem boast I get from it makes me feel happy and content.”

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “If this” or “If only” followed by some sort of ease, bliss, or happiness that would come as a result?  If you have my friend, you are indeed grasping for the wind!

The metaphor of “grasping for the wind” is so applicable – trying to get ahold of something elusive – impossible to catch, contain, or control.

The new spouse isn’t the answer.  In fact, they might have just as many issues as the old one – maybe more!  The sexy new lady or guy won’t stay physically attractive forever.  Once the house and credit cards were paid, the new medical bills and car payments would just take their place.

Pursuing knowledge with no end goal in mind brings greater debt, worry, and pressure.  Job promotions come with more compensation, but more time demands, higher stress, and sleepless nights.

We end up spending our days reaching out for the brass ring on the merry-go-round of life and it always just out of our reach.  We delay happiness NOW trying desperately to “grasp for the wind”.

Can you relate?  I can, my friend, in so, so many ways.

I spent most of my life chasing things that in the end either didn’t matter or didn’t last.  I postponed my happiness with all kinds of “if only” and “if this” statements of personal, false beliefs.

How about you?  Tired of “grasping for the wind”?

Solomon ended up determining that the best course of action was for us to “eat, drink, and enjoy the good in all his labor – it is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12) 

He encourages us to “live joyfully with the wife (or husband) whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 9:9), and to “fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

What does this mean?  How does this apply to ultimate happiness here in “life under the sun”?

I think it means to stop chasing, striving, and attempting to find happiness everywhere else but NOW.  That happiness is found in a continual state of gratitude – despite our circumstances.  It implies that relationships, work, and our labors are from God himself.  They are a gifted part of our lives – not meant for us to discard, discount or become easily discontented with – and they are NEVER the central source of our happiness or distress.  Our mindset drives that – not people or positions.

And speaking of mindsets, He implores us to keep God first and to live by the principles He has given us – not so that we become “holy and righteous” in our own power by our own actions, but because of the happiness that transpires as a result of keeping sound principles at the forefront of all we do and speak.

Jealousy, gossip, cheating on our mates, and failing to honor our parents certainly doesn’t lead to any kind of happiness.  Funny how this world sees God’s laws as restrictive, when in fact, they have been given to us as a gift – keys to a happy, well lived life.

I hope tonight you’ve given great thought to what makes you happy and the happiness you are longing for in your life.  I pray that you see where you’ve been “grasping for the wind” – a futile attempt at easing pain – falsely believing that happiness is out there somewhere to be found or attained.

I hope you begin to realize it is found in a mindset of continual gratitude, faithfully trusting God for what and where you are at in the moment – knowing He is the Source of all things – that reverential fear that Solomon was referring to earlier.  It’s living out the principles He has given us to live by – knowing the residual consequences will feed our happiness and contentment.  Remember, we are not blessed BECAUSE we follow them, we are blessed as a RESULT of following them – the peace and contentment they impart by incorporating them into how we live.

No need to be “grasping for the wind” my friend.  Your happiness is right in front of you!

God bless!