Hold Your Successes & Achievements Loosely Because They Pass Quickly

Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, 16-19

Soul Food

- Ecclesiastes 2:9-11,16-19

“I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor,

and this was the reward for all my toil. 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…

…….For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! 

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.”

Soul Search

• What achievements and successes in life are you most proud of?
  It’s OK to be proud of these things (in a healthy way – a pride with humility and not with arrogance).
  Can you describe these accomplishments?

• Are you still basking in the light of your successes or have any shadows come?
  What has brought the shadows – or outright darkness? Did life’s circumstances bring them, did people with bad motives play a part, or did they come from somewhere else?
  Can you talk about it?

• If somehow you were deprived of continued success for some reason or if your accomplishments were interrupted somehow, what happened?  

• Are you hurting in any way over successes lost or taken away or interrupted?
  Have you asked God to help you with that hurt?

Soul Moves

• Take time to thank God for successes you have experienced in your life.
  The successes might have to do with relationships, jobs, education, skills you’ve acquired, hobbies or sports you have excelled at.
  Carrying a thankful heart is key to happiness.

• If you were hurt in any way by the shadows and darkness that overtook your successes, have you dealt with the hurt?
  Ask God to help you forgive who and where you need to forgive.
  Ask Him to help you shake off the despair and depression that came if life circumstances like illness or an economic downturn played a role.   

• Not only ask God in prayer to build you back up again, but ask Him to clearly show you what is next.
  We all need hope for today and tomorrow.
  Ask God to help you look forward and not backward.

• Be sure to surround yourself with people who will build you up and encourage you.
  Be on alert to not spend too much time with discouragers and nay-sayers who steal your confidence and sense of self-worth away from you.