“And I saw all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbour. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
(Ecclesiastes 4: 4)
We have been doing a fascinating study in our church on the book of Samuel and with the focus on the life of David. David began as a humble shepherd boy until his famous feat of killing the giant Goliath and eventually becoming the King of Israel. Last Sunday we observed David drifting away from the God he worshipped and committing the sin of adultery and ordering the murder of Uriah. Our pastor pointed out how power can corrupt. David had wealth and power, everything he needed, but still allowed envy for another man’s wife to lead him into sin. Our pastor had this quote about power, power is like drinking saltwater, the more you have the thirstier you become for more, your thirst is never satisfied.
Solomon, who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, was another example of someone who had wealth and power, but he concluded, that most of what we desired as humans became a mere “chasing after the wind”.
So, what does give us satisfaction and give us contentment with our lot in life?
The world constantly tells us of exactly what will make us happy and satisfied with life, ideas ranging from beautiful clothes, luxury homes, to fast sport cars. It also in a subtle way promotes, that to get to the top of one’s profession will bring praise and honour, so strive to out do all other contenders for that special position. 
Recently one of the questions in our Bible Study was a simple, but also a complex one.
What brings you satisfaction in your life?
We are an older group, so have lived through ups and downs in all their forms. Many answers included a loving family, a safe place to live, loving friends, but the question begs for deeper reasons for contentment and satisfaction. We have been studying Philippians and finally agreed, that Paul summed up his experiences with a wonderful example of what true satisfaction is and one worth following;
“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or living in want.” (Philippians 4: 12)
Then we had to look carefully again at his letter to learn Paul’s secret. His secret is a powerful one. It is having the peace of God surrounding us whatever is going on in our lives. This peace is so amazing we as humans are unable to understand it. It is divine. 
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 7)
What a wonderful message for all of us. Whatever is going on in our lives we can call on the Lord Jesus Christ and ask for his peace, and contentment will follow. No longer chasing after the wind, we have a solid rock to hang on to.
When my brother and I were young, we were convinced that my mother was exactly like the old saying, she had eyes in the back of her head. She seemed to know what we were up to and even if she wasn’t in the same room as us, we would hear her say, “that game is going to end in tears!” and of course she was right. How did she know what we were playing with each other or how did she know one of us was teasing the other and tears probably were going to result?
The Lord knows completely what we have experienced and knows all our social fears and all our insecurity, so what a blessing it is when we seek his company in prayer there is no pretending, we can just be our selves and knowing this gives us more confidence in mixing with others we can even remind ourselves who we are by repeating the line in one of my favourite songs, before venturing out in the world.
that when we were young and were working or had small children or sometimes both! Morning rituals then were chaotic. I was thinking back on my own life and remembering all the changes I lived through. When I was a new young teacher, I had a kindergarten class and one of the little songs they loved to sing (or perhaps shout might be a better description) had these words as the first verse;
As a young mother and also working, my request was probably a plea to get through the day, but as I grew in the knowledge of who Jesus was, my morning prayer time became the most important part of my morning ritual and I became more and more dependent on that precious time.
Others have told me they write a favourite verse out on paper and leave it on the bedside table, so they read it as soon as they wake up.
This week we sang in our church service, probably one of the best-known hymns ever written, Amazing Grace. As I sang the familiar words, once again I was filled with awe at what those words meant, although written hundreds of years ago their impact has never lessened and as we approach Good Friday and think deeply about what those words really mean, our hearts are profoundly touched and just like the author we are filled with gratitude to our Saviour.
advice Peter wrote to the followers of Christ.
Perhaps all of us at birth are filled with zeal for self and the importance of being number one. If you have ever watched toddlers first interacting with other small children, how they relate is fascinating to see, as they wrestle toys away from one another and when they can speak, often accompanied by shouting out Mine and Me First. The poor parents constantly trying to teach that all important word, share, or “it is [your/their] turn next”. We do get taught how to lovingly live with one another from a young age.
When Paul is writing to the new churches, he adds another dimension to what this means. He tells Jesus’ followers to honour one another. I looked up the dictionary to check the meaning of this word and this description stood out for me;
Last week my family with their two young children came to dinner at my place and once we were seated at the table, my six-year-old grandson could hardly wait to tell me what they were now doing at their dinner table every night. At first, I was a little confused when he said, it was about roses, thorns and buds. When his mother explained I was thrilled at what their parents were instilling in their children. Everybody took a turn and they had to look hard at their day and find a beautiful thing that had happened (a rose) then they were also allowed to share what had been not so good (a thorn) then to end with, to find a way to encourage something good to happen for the next day (the bud).
When he is writing to the Philippians, he encourages them to rejoice and find roses to thank God for. This even more startling when Paul was writing from prison while in chains. He doesn’t mention how terrible that must be, but rejoices that amid all his agony his witness for Christ has reached the palace guard and not only that, this witnessing has encouraged other Christians to be bolder in how they share the good news;
Again, a wonderful example for us to follow to pray with joy for our families, our friends our church family
Many years ago, my husband and I bought a holiday cabin for all the family to use, on a remote lake with a water frontage. The property was an acre and was covered in stately pine trees. We fell in love with it when we first saw it. When we moved in, I was reading my Bible and came across this verse in Psalm 16 in which the Psalmist was thanking God for the pleasant and beautiful place God had allowed him to live in. When I read it, it became my prayer for this place we had just bought, and I wrote out the verse in big letters and it remained on the refrigerator the whole time we owned it.
My physical boundaries were certainly different, but emotionally I was surrounded by the Father’s love on all sides. He had surrounded me with a loving family to care for me. Loving friends and a supporting church community. I was bound to him by his love. The Lord had promised to never forsake me so he is one of my boundary lines that can never be moved
a child. I often wondered what they meant by that, was it some excuse for behaviour? Or was it some sort of dismissal of their worth? Was it a reason to ignore their contribution to life and to keep them in the background? The other familiar saying was, children should be seen and not heard. On Sunday morning we were singing one of my favourite songs and the end of every verse was this phrase
control our own lives without consulting him as the much wiser parent.
When my children were young, we were given a beautiful children’s book entitled, Love You Forever. It became a favourite (even though we all cried every time we read it), but eventually over the years we lost track of it until my daughter had children of her own and bought me a brand new copy to read to my grandchildren.
portrayed of God as a parent calming us down with his love and singing to us. I love this image and in some of my worst moments I go back and read this verse and it comforts me.
I grew up in Australia, but our culture was very much shaped by our British inheritance and one characteristic of Britain, “The stiff upper lip” prevailed in my family. Emotions displayed in public was frowned upon and if you were going through a difficult situation one did not share it in public but dealt with it privately. Just recently I have been going through a difficult time and felt that I had to pretend in public that I was coping well as my childhood upbringing had taught me.
We too can learn to share our tears with those who are mourning, or in health problems or major financial or family problems, offering them a safe place to do so.