I undertook great projects … 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. — Ecclesiastes 2:4, 11
Where do we look for validation?
I like projects. When I have the luxury of working on a project that is going well, I tend to be consumed by it, sort of like Sherlock Holmes was consumed by his cases and depressed when he didn’t have one.
When I don’t have a project that is going well, I tend to feel off balance and not very useful.
Earlier, the writer of Ecclesiastes writes, "What a heavy burden God has laid on men!" (1:13) And the burden is heavy, if our work is required to give us something work cannot give. We will toil and strive, hoping to get our sense of significance from our castles in the sand.
All my life I’ve thought globally. I look at churches, governments, institutions, movements and think about how they can reinvent themselves worldwide. I try to tackle these issues by writing letters that are usually ignored and I probably come across as a Don Quixote type – a crazy man jousting with windmills. Practical people tell me that the things I want to do are impossible.
So what do we do? Do we give up because what we want to do is impossible, and, even if we achieve it, it won’t add one ounce to our significance? Or do we work like crazy and hope to achieve what others say can’t be done?
Maybe there’s another alternative. I put in a day’s work doing what I think the Lord told me to do. The project is in God’s hands, not mine. He does the impossible; I don’t. Whether it works or it doesn’t, I’m still His kid and that’s what matters.
With God, there’s enough significance to go around — even for those of us who can’t point to any great accomplishment.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.