Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
ECCLESIASTES 1:1-2| The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
ECCLESIASTES 1:8-11 |All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
The final blockage to the full life which we’ll focus on this week is disappointment. Nothing makes us more despondent, nothing drains our energy more than unmet expectations or failed dreams. We anticipate outcomes, we plan for results, and then reality does not measure up to our hopes. Life is unfair! Tragedy strikes! People let us down! Disappointment wells up and we stop moving forward, we feel sorry for ourselves, or we regret our investments of time and energy in projects or people that failed us. Perhaps we even feel the overall arc of our lives and work will never meet our desires.
At this moment we must remember our plans are secondary, God’s are primary. He can use us effectively wherever we are, no matter our circumstances. Even our failures and disappointment can honor him or help others, or both!
Does disappointment live somewhere in your life?
The author of Ecclesiastes expresses the vanity of life’s struggles and ending. Have you ever felt this way?
