Tim Helwege – Associate Director of Student Ministries

Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 (ESV)
“So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. 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 a striving after wind.” 

Reflection:
I loved playing on the trampoline in my backyard when I was a kid. I would create these crazy stories about how I was a knight taking on the evil villain doing all that I could to save the world from his tyranny. Or, one of my favorites, a jedi jumping as high as I could and using the force to throw myself around doing flips, slashing at things with my lightsaber, and defeating Darth Vader. 

As I think about this as an adult now, I can’t help but reflect on how silly I really was as a child on that trampoline. But when I think about it more, I can’t help but admire the incredible imagination that child had. I’m struck with a sense of humility wondering if something about my adulthood has caused me to lose sight of what it really means to play, delight, and “to be.” Maybe it’s work. Maybe it’s the bills that seem to pile up. Maybe it’s the relationships that consume more and more of my time. Or maybe it was the times where someone told me that I needed to stop behaving that way because it was “too weird to be doing that.”

Ultimately, that once-adventurous, imaginative, present-focused boy was replaced with a man who was focused on making sure that needs were met, things were scheduled, and to-do lists were done. The human being that I was as a child had become nothing more than a human “doing” as an adult. I lost sight of the beauty, adventure, and wonder that this world, and God, had to offer.

I find it interesting that Solomon (presumably the author of Ecclesiastes) wrote about all of the things that he had gained and counted them as vanity. All of his wisdom, wealth, work, and everything that this world defined as “good” he saw as vanity and hated them. He spends so much time in this chapter talking about how it was all worthless. But in verse 24 Solomon says something very different. He says that, “there is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.” What a shift! 

Hear me out: yes, it is important for us to work and to do things in this life. That is what we are supposed to do as responsible humans. In fact, the Lord wants us to make sure that we give God glory in all the things we do ( 1 Corinthians 10:31). BUT if our only desire is to simply just “do” those things, never focusing on God’s presence in the present, then I’m afraid we begin to miss the point. God has so much more for us in our day-to-day lives than just to toil, eat, drink, and lay our heads on the pillow at night. God wants to meet with us. God wants to dine with us. God wants to work with us. God wants to laugh with us. God wants to play with us. God wants to BE with us. And we were made to desire to simply “be” with God as well. Not just in church during worship, but in the mundane, daily tasks of our lives. Like grocery shopping, playing with our kids, or watching your favorite show. When we lose sight of what it means to “be” in the present, it’s easy to miss God’s presence. 

Let me ask you this: When was the last time you allowed yourself to play with God? Offering nothing to the Lord but simply yourself, just as you are?

If we take the time to ask ourselves these questions, and live into the answers, we would begin to see just how much fun this life with God can be. And the best part of it all? Others would get to see it too! So let that inner child speak, and let your imagination roar! Because God wants nothing more than to laugh, delight, play, and be with you in every part of every day. When we do this, and allow it to be our main focus, none of what we do will be in vain. 

Prayer:
Almighty God, I pray that you would allow me to re-engage with my inner-child today. Show me what it means to be, to laugh, to play, and to love you, even in the mundane tasks. Show me the beauty of your Presence in places where I never thought I would see it before. This I ask in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, who is the giver of all things. Amen.