Ecclesiastes

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever." - Ecclesiastes 1:2-4

"I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind." - Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have spent a large amount of time feeling unfulfilled throughout my life. Professionally, where I thought I would be at 15, isn't who I am at 29. I have worked hard, and materially, I have very little to show for it. I don't own a house. I don't own a cool car. My savings account has about 14 dollars in it, and I work serving tables to ungracious assholes who talk down to me.

At this moment, it would be easy to get caught up in the "When I (fill in the blank), I will be happy" mentality. But this is foolishness.

King Solomon (who is the author of Ecclesiastes) was the wisest, richest king to have ever lived. He had 300 wives, 700 concubines, limitless amounts of entertainers,and limitless amounts of money.  He spent his life trying to find meaning. He said that whatever his heart desired, he indulged in. He built private parks, palaces, etc. His life was the ultimate picture of "living the dream", but he found it all meaningless.
 It was meaningless to him because he knew that one day he would die, and everything that he worked for would be passed on to another.

He knew that everything that he had done, had been done before. Nothing was new. Despite all his greatness, he found only despair. Every step he took, took him closer to the realization that this life is temporary. This life is here today and gone tomorrow. 

Everything in this life is a shadow of the life that we will live. Find your life unfulfilled? That's great! Because this life was never meant to fulfill. Everything in and of itself is meaningless  because we try to find meaning in temporary things that were meant to point us to something greater. Everything in life was meant to point to a creator who isn't temporary. Everything in life was meant to point to something that transcends this reality. Everything from the relationships we have, to the sunsets we watch was meant to be a shadow of something amazing, or more accurately someone.

The problem is that we get caught up in worshiping creation. We see  money, a great relationship, or the next goal accomplished as the golden ticket to fulfillment, when it was only meant to foreshadow the thing that will ultimately give us fulfillment. This only causes disappointment. Once we accomplish these things, there is always something more. The one who loves money, never has enough. The one who is in love with the "in-love" feeling jumps from relationship to relationship telling him or herself that the next one will be real, true, and fulfilling. These people lack wisdom and they will never find what they are looking for because it can only be found in Christ who is the fulfill-er of these desires.

Romans says that our unbelief is without excuse because his attributes are clearly seen in the things created. I would encourage you to take a look around and search for the God which all of creation points to. Look inside yourself and see if there is void that you have been unable to fill thus far. If the wisest, richest king who has ever lived couldn't find fulfillment in wealth and success, what makes you so confident that you can?