The Search for Success
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes, and it’s an 8 week teaching series we’re calling The Good Life. In this series we’re examining several things people often turn to when trying to find satisfaction in life, and what we’re examining specifically today is the search for satisfaction in success. We’re examining the search for satisfaction in our life achievements.
Now the truth is everybody’s trying to achieve something...Everybody’s trying to achieve something, and we can each have different reasons for trying to achieve those things. For example, some of you might be trying to achieve certain things, because you want to impact the world in ways that can help transform the world...Some of you might be trying to achieve certain things, because you want to make more money to impact your family in ways that can help you buy more things, do more things, and leave a little extra for your family in the will...Some of you might be trying to achieve certain things, because you want to gain the approval of your parents, the recognition of your peers, or prove the haters wrong for doubting you...My point is everybody’s trying to achieve something, and we can each have different reasons for trying to achieve those things. So the question isn’t are you trying to achieve something, it’s what are you trying to achieve?...What are you trying to achieve in life, and can those achievements provide the satisfaction you’re seeking?...This is what we’re talking about today, so let’s turn to Ecclesiastes 2 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle and keep turning left, you’ll find Ecclesiastes. We’ll be in Ecclesiastes 2:12-26. The title of the message is The Search For Success, and the big idea of the message is the only achievements that can fully satisfy, are the ones that can echo into eternity...The only achievements that can fully satisfy, are the ones that can echo into eternity...
Here’s your context. The author of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon, and we know historically he’s considered one of the wisest, wealthiest, most powerful kings in history. We know he’s a man who experienced a lot of life, he made a lot of mistakes in life, and he wrote Ecclesiastes towards the end of his life so we can learn from his mistakes. So as we read Ecclesiastes we need to picture him as a wise old teacher, like a wise old grandpa, who’s teaching us a few things about life. In our study of vs. 1-11 he taught us about some of his achievements, and in vs. 4 he says he even increased his achievements. But in today’s text he’ll teach us three reasons why the search to find satisfaction in our achievements fail, and he’ll also teach us the solution. So let’s check it out.
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 states, “Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done.” Solomon’s pondering what his son will do with the crown. He’s pondering what the king’s successor will do with the crown. He concludes his son won’t do anything different than what he’s already done, meaning his son will try searching for satisfaction in all kinds of things just like him and everybody else in history does. In the words of the philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, which can’t be filled by any created thing...” That God-shaped vacuum, that God-shaped hole is exactly what Solomon’s talking about. It’s our constant search for satisfaction in all kinds of things, but nothing ever seems to satisfy us. Nothing ever seems to fully satisfy or fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts. Solomon’s saying his son, his successor, will try filling it with all kinds of things just like him and everybody else.
Again vs. 12, “What will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done. 13 And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness. 14 The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. 15 So I said to myself, ‘What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?’ And I said to myself that this is also futile. 16 For just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?” The question Solomon’s pondering here, is what’s the point of our achievements?...What’s the point of working so hard for all our achievements, if it’ll all be forgotten anyways?...Solomon’s giving us the 1st of 3 reasons why the search for satisfaction in our achievements fails. The 1streason is...
#1 Our achievements fail to be remembered. = Our achievements fail to be remembered. In vs. 1-11 Solomon listed several of his achievements, but now he’s saying all those achievements fail to have lasting remembrance, and one day it’ll all be forgotten! We talked about this a few weeks ago. We talked about how our names and everything we’re working so hard to achieve in life, will only be remembered for about 3 generations in our family lineage and that’s it.Even if you become one of the rare few who’s remembered 1000 years from now, eventually our planet will cease to exist, and so will all your achievements. John Keats was a famous 19th Century English writer, and he had an inscription written on his tombstone that said, “Here lies one whose name, was written in water.” Here lies one whose name, was written in water...Have you ever tried writing your name in water? You can’t do it. You can try writing your name in water, try leaving your mark in water, but it doesn’t leave a single mark of your existence...Both Solomon and Keats are saying our names and achievements are like that. They’re like trying to write our names in water. They’ll never leave a lasting remembrance, and one day it’ll all be forgotten.
Vs. 17, “Therefore, I hated life because the work done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 18 I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun, because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.” Solomon’s once again talking about death. But he’s now pondering even deeper the thought of what happens with our achievements after we die, and it’s that we can’t take any of it with us when we die. So 1st he says our achievements fail to be remembered, but now he’s saying...
#2 Our achievements fail to retain their value. = Our achievements fail to retain their value, because you can’t take any of it with you to the grave. It’s the old saying, you don’t ever see hearses pulling U-Hauls...Why?...It’s because you can’t take anything with you when you die... In vs 18 Solomon says he’ll have to leave it! He’ll have to leaveeverything he’s worked so hard for, hand it over to somebody else when he dies, and they might use it for evil instead of good. They might use everything he’s worked hard to achieve within his lifetime, and foolishly squander it all within their lifetime. In fact studies have shown that roughly 60% of the people who receive an inheritance, will spend it all by the end of the 2nd generation...This is why so many self-made billionaires worry about passing on their inheritance to their children. It’s because they’re afraid their children won’t know how to handle so much money, since they’ve been spoiled rich and never had to worry about being hungry. In fact this is exactly what happened with Solomon’s son King Rehoboam. In 1st Kings 12-14 we learn Rehoboam was foolish with his father’s inheritance, made some poor decisions, and eventually lost his father’s inheritance to a foreign army. So Solomon’s point is all our achievements will eventually lose their value, and be handed over to somebody else. It isn’t that our achievements are bad or that we shouldn’t strive to achieve anything. It’s that we often think our achievements will satisfy us and keep their value. But Solomon’s exposing that they’ll never provide us with the lasting satisfaction we’re seeking, because they fail to be remembered and fail to retain their value. Every day our achievements aren’t appreciating in value, they’re depreciating in value, They’re one step closer to a tombstone.
Vs. 20, “So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work, that I had labored at under the sun. 21 When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. 22 For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? 23 For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind doesn’t rest. This too is futile.” This is the 3rd reason Solomon’s saying the search for satisfaction in our achievements will fail. He says it’s because...
#3 Our achievements fail to relieve our stress. = Our achievements fail to relieve our stress, and instead they increase our stress. In vs. 23 Solomon says they increase our stress in three ways. They bring us grief, sorrow, and a mind that doesn’t rest. The 1st thing they bring us is grief, which in the original Hebrew means pain. Solomon’s talking about the grief, the pain, the constant exertion, and exhaustion that comes from working hard to reach our achievements. It’s painful! It wears us out and wears us down! In fact a survey was done several years ago asking people, “If we turned the 24 hr day into a 25 hr day, what would you do with the extra hour?” 85% said sleep... They’d use the extra hour for sleep...Why?...It’s because of the grief, the pain, the exhaustion that comes from working hard to reach our achievements. It wears us out, drains us, gives us grief.
The 2nd thing our achievements bring us is sorrow, because we often go through setbacks before reaching our achievements. Sometimes you fail to meet your goals, fail to meet your deadlines, fail to reach the success you’re hoping for. We often only see people’s success, but not all the setbacks and sorrows they went through to reach that success. Thomas Edison failed over 2774 times, before inventing the first lightbulb. Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star for lacking imagination, and his first animation studio went bankrupt. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, before becoming one of the greatest basketball players in history. We often only see people’s success, but not all the setbacks and sorrows they went through to reach that success. There’s also sorrow in realizing we’re wearing ourselves out working just as hard as them, but we’re not even close to reaching the levels of success people like Solomon, Edison, Disney, and Jordan had. So we experience some shattered dreams, desires, and goals, which leads to sorrow. Your achievements will sometimes bring you setbacks and sorrow.
The 3rd thing our achievements bring is a mind that doesn’t rest. When Solomon says this he’s talking about our worry, our sleepless nights that come from trying to reach our achievements. Some of you are losing sleep because you’re overworked. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 24 hr or 25 hr day, there isn’t enough time to accomplish everything you’re trying to achieve in a day. So you work long days, late nights, and sacrifice hours of sleep. But some of you are losing sleep because you can’t shut off your mind. You can’t stop thinking about everything you’re trying to achieve. You have a mind that doesn’t rest...So what’s the answer? What’s the solution to this search for satisfaction in our achievements? Solmon tells us in vs. 24-26.
Vs. 24-26 states, “There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy, his work. I’ve seen that even this is from God’s hand, 25 because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him? 26 For the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating to give to the one who’s pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.” If you notice Solomon doesn’t say the solution is to stop working, stop achieving things, stop enjoying life. He says the solution is to eat, drink, and enjoy your work, but to enjoy it all with God. What he’s teaching us is our ability to enjoy life and the blessings we have in life, are all gifts from God’s hand. He’s teaching us nothing will ever satisfy the eternal joy void in our hearts apart from him. So it isn’t that we can’t find some satisfaction in our achievements, it’s that we can’t find lasting satisfaction in our achievements without God. It isn’t that we shouldn’t try to achieve anything, it’s that anything we achieve is headed for an expiration date on a tombstone without God. Without God we’re trapped in a daily grind of work, eat, sleep, repeat, without any lasting purpose. Without God our perspective on life is to build our own sandcastle kingdoms that’ll eventually get washed away. Without God our achievements will fail to be remembered, retain their value, or relieve our stress.
But Solomon says with God, our perspective on life can change! With God, we can view the daily grind not as a burden, but as a blessing to be infused with new life, new purpose, new enjoyment. With God, we can view everyday life as a gift from God’s hand. We can view everyday life with an eternal perspective to build God’s eternal kingdom, instead of temporary sandcastle kingdoms that’ll just get washed away. The reality is everything you’re working hard to achieve has a clock that’s ticking down or a clock that’s ticking forward. It’s either ticking down to an expiration date on your tombstone, or it’s ticking forward to a resurrection date beyond your tombstone. Solomon says it’s all headed for an expiration date on a tombstone without God. But the good news is Jesus is our incarnate God who died for our sins on the cross so we don’t have to live apart from him, and he rose again on the 3rd day proving he can give us eternal life beyond the tombstone. He proved the things he achieved on the cross, will echo into eternity. So if you put your faith in his achievements on the cross instead of your achievements in the world, then you’ll get to enjoy daily restoration, but also eternal salvation, significance, and satisfaction in an eternal relationship with him. There is no lasting satisfaction apart from him, but there is daily restoration, and eternal salvation, significance, and satisfaction that’ll echo into eternity with him.
The big idea of the message is the only achievements that can fully satisfy, are the ones that can echo into eternity...The only achievements that can fully satisfy, are the ones that align with Jesus...Like Solomon, the philosopher and physicist I quoted earlier finally realized this. Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, which can’t be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” He says we’ll never fill that God-shapped hole in our hearts or find lasting satisfaction apart from Jesus. We can try all we want, but it’ll only leave us stressed out, burnt out, physically and emotionally worn out, which is exactly what’s happening to a lot of us! We’re stressed out, burnt out, physically and emotionally worn out, because we’re working hard trying to build sandcastle kingdoms filled with treasures and trophies that’ll eventually be washed away.
In Matthew 6 Jesus says to seek him and his kingdom first, but we often seek other things and our sandcastle kingdoms first. So the question isn’t are you seeking something, are you trying to achieve something? It’s what are you seeking and trying to achieve?...What are you seeking and trying to achieve, and can those things provide the lasting satisfaction you’re seeking?...Can those things be washed away like sandcastles on a seashore, or will they echo into eternity?...In the words of C.T. Studd, “Only one life will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”