There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work.  I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from Him?  For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight.  This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.  Ecclesiastes 2:22-26  HCSB

Are you stuck in a rut?  Here in south Louisiana, we get our fair share of rain which produces plenty of mud and soggy ground.  If you don’t have a four wheel drive, you do good to stay on the pavement or gravel.  Otherwise, you get stuck.  Your wheels just spin and spin and you go nowhere.  Have you ever felt that way in life?  Your engine is revved up and you are pressing the gas pedal,  but you are going nowhere.  Our scripture passage describes this as pursuit of the wind or chasing the wind.

It has been said that insanity can be defined by doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  I have been there, done that and got the t-shirt.  I only chose five short verses from this chapter, but if you have time to read the entire chapter it addresses some very interesting topics. The entire chapter talks about things we do that are futile or like chasing the wind.

It talks of the emptiness of pleasure.  We all seek pleasure, right?  But the question is how are you seeking pleasure?  The root word of pleasure is please, so are you seeking to please your flesh or to please God the Father?  In the first 3 verses of this chapter it talks about how few our days on earth are.  If our days on earth are numbered and few, shouldn’t we be seeking to please the Father?  I have also learned that when I seek to please my flesh, I am left feeling empty and unsatisfied, but when I seek to please the Father, my joy is complete.  Just sayin…

In the next few verses, this chapter talks about the emptiness of collecting possessions.  You can amass a great fortune, but if your soul is without love, then you are bankrupt (1 Corinthians 13:2).

Then the chapter talks about the value of wisdom and the emptiness of work.  Marc Anthony once said that, “if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life”.  I am happy to say that I was blessed to get the job that God called me to do.  For many of my years in probation and parole, I went without taking off for a vacation for any length of time.  I would take a day off here and there.  I worked through the holidays only taking the days we were given, never any extra.  I can even recall having to drive to Slidell which is about 45 minutes east of here in the snow on Christmas Eve.   I loved my job.  I loved what I did, it didn’t seem like work.  I loved the fact that each day was different and I never knew what to expect.  We had a really good office environment.  I had a great supervisor.  I was happy to go to work.

When I decided to get my masters, I had to leave my job with the state at probation and parole and take a different job with the city to provide an opportunity for me to take on more of a counseling role and use my job as an internship.  I was determined to complete my masters in five semesters while working full time.  I completed my goal, but there was one huge problem.  My focus was on completing my goal and my relationship with God was put on the back burner.

I completed my masters and finally thought I could relax a little, as I had basically been working all day and attending classes from 6-9pm.  I was exhausted.  But I found that I was in a rut.  I was spinning my wheels and going nowhere.  Once I slowed down, I realized that I hated my new job.  My marriage was dissolving.  I tried to find happiness by partying with my friends, but that got me nowhere.  After about 6 months, I got a call from my old probation job.  They offered me my old job back with a nice pay raise, since I had gotten my masters degree.  I jumped on that opportunity.  I loved my job, but I was still in a rut.  I realized that I needed to put my focus back on God.

It took me many years to realize that I had to completely focus on God and that He would take care of everything else.  But once I did, I found that peace and joy that is talked about in the Bible.

I have been through some trials and tribulations since I put God first in my life, but God has handled each and every one of them.  He has consistently worked things out for my good (Romans 8:28) and His glory (Isaiah 48:9-11).

My days are a little more mundane and repetitive since I retired, but I am never bored.  I never feel as though I am in a rut.  I feel as though I am right where God wants me to be.  This brings me peace and joy beyond measure.

My prayer for you today, is that if you feel stuck in a rut, that you see that the way to be pulled out of it is by God’s hand.  Put Him first and trust Him to take care of all other things (Matthew 6:33-34).  And take a minute to think about what you have been doing with your life.  Have you been doing the same things over and over and expecting different results?

Ecclesiastes chapter 2 tells us that the wise man and the foolish man will both meet the same fate.  We are all going to die.  It’s where we go from there that makes the big difference.  Eternity is a long time.  Choose wisely!

Have a great day!