Everything was Meaningless

     Cancer gave both my husband and I a different look on life, agreeing with the author of Ecclesiastes (most likely Solomon), that "all is meaningless on this earth," except what is done to glorify God and save souls. The author noted the following, "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing...What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecc. 1:8-9). He continued in Ecc. 2:2-3, 10-11 to write, "And what does pleasure accomplish? I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly...(10) I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure...(11) yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind: nothing was gained under the sun."
    It's easy to get caught up in the world's view of happiness. The idea that once we have done all that we wanted to do and gathered up all that we wanted to have, we will finally be happy. But most of us as we get older and retire realize that all that toiling and pleasure seeking has still left us empty and unsatisfied. So then what?  This scripture in Proverbs 31:30 speaks to these vain pursuits, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Fearing the Lord doesn't mean to be afraid of God, but rather to be humbled by who He is as our Creator. If we would live our lives focused on God and what He wants us to do with the lives He has given us; we would struggle less with "everything [that is] meaningless" including aging and feeling useless.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."