Are You Chasing The Wind?

Are You Chasing The Wind?

For as long as I can remember I’ve always had very high goals and aspirations for myself. I had an unhealthy, addictive focus on what I thought would make me happy. I was infatuated with everything associated with the traditional idea of success (wealth, free time, health, etc.). My absorption was on growing my business and saving money in an effort to buy investment homes in order to leave my job forever. I wanted control over my life so I could spend time doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, and with the people I wanted to spend my time with.

In our individualistic American society, we all chase the dream of living “the good life”. In pursuing the good life we often seek it in various forms. We all have things that we are living for. I personally was living for family and control. Other people live for money, acceptance, and praise, while some may long to have a romantic relationship so they feel loved by someone. Others may long for success in their careers. 

My desire for control over my life brought a constant sense of anxiety and worry. Even though I had reached success in my career, nothing short of the vision I had for myself would satisfy me. I started to become bitter with life since I was not meeting my goals as fast as I wanted. I wasted no time getting involved with anything that did not involve reaching my goals.  I began questioning the point of being alive. What was the point if I weren’t doing what I desired? I have an awesome family life (great wife and son) but my search for control over my career and time allowed me not to recognize just how blessed I am. 

I began working even harder to save money. I became sleep deprived and mentally exhausted. Then one day I stumbled across a sermon about worrying and what God says about anxiety and worry. The Pastor preached a sermon entitled Consider the Lilies. He spoke about the well-known verse Matthew 6:24-34, where Jesus talks about people who are worrying about what they will eat and are chasing after things they think will make them happy. Although I had heard this verse many times, I was not applying it to my life. I began to learn about how God calls us to live and the things we should prioritize. So what does God say about what we should be pursuing and the priorities we should be focused on? 

1.      Seek Him Over Things

Many people want all the blessings associated with a relationship with God, but they don’t want a real relationship in fellowship with Him. This reminds me of John 6:26 where Jesus confronted the men who had found Him after He fed them on the mountain. He said "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill”. Those men had no desire for a relationship with Jesus, instead, they were focused on what they could get from Him, or how they could use Him to meet their own selfish needs. Jesus continued, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.

2.      Anything You Put Before God is An Idol

God provides us with many blessings in the form of children, spouses, friends, family, and even material means to meet our needs. However, none of these things can become more important than God. If God were to take any of these things away would you still be able to rejoice in HIm? In my case, career goals and wanting control over my life had become an idol. I was not as passionate about getting in God’s presence and serving Him as I was about growing my business and obtaining wealth. The scary part was that I thought I was living a life in submission to God but all along I had something more important than Him in my heart, myself. Even things that we think our good like living to spend time with family can become an idol. You have to constantly test your heart to ensure that God is first and foremost in your life. How are you spending your time each day? What do you often daydream about? Does the vision you have for yourself involve God being in control or does it focus on you being the governor of your life?

3.      Jesus is Lord – He Should Be In Control

When Jesus called the first disciples to follow him they all left everything they were doing immediately including family and even their occupations to follow Him.

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men. ”And at once they left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 20:19-21

While we may not be charged with leaving our jobs or families, we are called to leave our old ways behind to follow Him. Christianity is not legalistically following moral rules and attending church once a week. Since Jesus is Lord over our lives, we can either willingly submit to Him now, or we can shamelessly and forcibly bow to Him when our lives end here on earth.  I thank God that He is faithful and allowed me to recognize the sin that was present in my life. I had lived like this for as long as I can remember. Ambition is great but without direction, it can certainly lead to destruction. I realized the fact that I had never really changed the way I was living although I identified myself as a Christian. My life really looked no different than someone who wasn’t a Christian other than the fact that I attended church regularly and I tried to adhere to the moral rules outlined in the bible. I chased after all the things that non-believers chase after (money, success, recognition, and control) and God was not my first priority. There is nothing wrong with having goals and aspirations as long as Jesus is first in your life. If you never reach your goals, you will still be happy because the most important thing you have is Jesus and he can never be taken away.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25

4.      Seek Treasures In Heaven

Instead of focusing on seeking things here on earth that won’t last, Jesus said we should seek treasure in heaven that will last forever. We receive treasure in heaven by giving for God’s sake. The time, money, and talents given towards the upbuilding of Gods kingdom will be the only thing that matters when God returns. Every believer in Christ will have to give an account to God on how responsible they were with what He gave them. This statement should also give you a different way of viewing temporal things on earth. We should view life each day in light of the impending return of Jesus. With this in mind, we should hold tightly to the things of God and very loosely to the things here on earth. It’s easy to get caught up in living for the “American Dream” focused on  ourselves to fulfill our own selfish desires and greed. This causes us to lose sight of what is really important.

Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. – Psalm 21:5-7

5.      Joy And Fulfillment Is Found Only In A Relationship With Jesus

King David talked about how God had allowed him victory in many areas of his life, he was blessed with splendor and majesty as king in the eyes of men. But he recognized that true joy comes only from being in God’s presence. We live in a society where worldly success is celebrated. People search for joy in all kinds of things but not from the only One that provides true happiness and joy. Our joy should not be based on things nor good circumstances. God offers joy on the inside that can’t be shaken.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon repeatedly states the term “chasing the wind” as it relates to his search for fulfillment in life. Solomon was looking to things that were temporal for happiness. Solomon had tried to find satisfaction through knowledge, through wealth and all that it affords, and through the pleasures of music and art and women. He had houses and land with beautiful gardens and ponds. But none of it brought fulfillment. He observed that even if you have all of these things, you live a few years and then die. It is all futility, striving after the wind (Eccl. 2:17). Nothing apart from God will lead to anything of value. Ecclesiastes also tackles the idea that gaining acceptance from God by your works is like chasing after the wind as well. Grace is a free gift that was bought by Jesus with His blood and we should simply accept it instead of trying to earn it. In the end, he concluded:

Now all has been heard;

    here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

    for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

    including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

To fight against this type of selfish living you must change your mind and your thinking. The first place to start the battle for contentment is to begin to judge things on the thought level, and know that you have to fight for contentment as it does not come naturally. When feelings of discontentment come into your mind you must remind yourself that God is good and He is in control. Guard your heart by what you allow into your mind and your eyes since the eyes are the window to the soul. Stay away from consuming garbage (social media, movies, conversations that don’t build up). Speaking for myself, negative thoughts can occur from things that may not appear to be bad. For instance, I love cars. I look at car television shows on a regular basis. I noticed that when I watch these shows I’m left wanting the cars the shows presented or want to buy things to enhance my own cars. When I can’t immediately get what I want it can leave me frustrated and feeling like I don’t have what I need. I know I have to monitor how often I even watch the things I enjoy. 

In the end like Solomon, I learned the only thing that will bring true fulfillment is a relationship with God. We all have many longings that we think will bring happiness. Often times even when we get what we want it only brings temporary fulfillment.  Just as Jesus told the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst”. Temporal things will never bring fulfillment, God is the only thing that will quench all our wants and needs.