Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 (For the Love of Money, Part 3)

I know a woman who has a lot.  She has a great family, a beautiful home, a luxury car, takes many nice vacations, wears beautiful jewelry, and buys many nice clothes.  Now, if I stopped there, you might have thought something like, "wow, it must be nice to be her."  Because I did, too, for a while.  But the more I was around her, I noticed that she would often bring her possessions up in conversation -- she wanted to make sure everyone knew just how much she had -- and she she would often make sweeping, verbal judgements of other people completely based on their house size and the neighborhood in which they lived.  

At first, I was angry.  I was angry that she was judging people solely based on their house size.  I was angry that she was constantly bragging about what she had, as if she was rubbing it in my face.  I was angry that she had all of this abundance and rarely shared it with anyone, and if she did, she made sure you knew about it.  And then it hit me:

She doesn't know Jesus.

She has all the stuff money can buy, and yet, she is miserable.  She does not exude joy and love and peace.  She oozes anxiety and judgement and comparison.   And this, Solomon tells us, is a tragedy.

For the final segment on money, we see next a man, who I picture to be much like this woman I know: 

I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: ² God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
³ A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵ Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— ⁶ even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

This man is wrapped in blessings (money, possessions, a large family), and yet, he can't enjoy them all because he doesn't know from Whom these gifts have come.

Do you know how hard that is?  Have you ever received something anonymously?  When I was in elementary school, American Girl dolls were just coming out.  I wanted one so badly, but based on their price, I knew I would never receive one...and I had made peace with that, as much as a ten-year-old can.

Until one day, a huge box from the American Girl company arrived.  I was so confused.  Surely they sent this to the wrong person!  But no, inside was a note for me, but the giver had not signed it.  As I picked up the "Molly" doll from the box, I wanted to be able to thank someone for this incredible gift, but I didn't know who to thank.  It bothered me for years, and for a few days I even had trouble enjoying the gift because I was so focused on who to thank. (I still don't know who gave me that doll, so if you want to come forward, I think it's been long enough.)

We really do want to know who to thank, don't we? And so what a blessing it is to know Who is the Giver in our lives, isn't it?  It allows us the ability to enjoy everything we have been given even more, from a tasty glass of lemonade to a big, schmancy house!

I'm praying that this woman in my life will come to know the Lord, the Giver of all good things, soon.

⁷ Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
    yet their appetite is never satisfied.
⁸ What advantage have the wise over fools?
What do the poor gain
    by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
⁹ Better what the eye sees
    than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
    a chasing after the wind.

Our appetites for more are large.  Our eyes roam across the earth looking for more that we want, and we are bombarded by commercials, advertisements, and billboards telling us that we "need" more in order to be happy and healthy.  But that's a lie!  God will give us all we need, and His gifts often don't come in the form of material possessions.   

I have a weakness for all things home.  I am on the mailing list of every major home design store.  As those magazines pile up on my counter, I gaze at the stack as I wait until the weekend when I can sit in the sun room and savor each page, dreaming up ideas of what I might do in my own house.  It's a delight, really!

But occasionally, I have caught myself seeing things that look incredible and thinking of how I "need" them, then I think about all that I don't have in these magazines, and suddenly I am no longer content with what I have.  In fact, sometimes in those moments, I can feel myself stepping further into all things worldy.  I forget for a few minutes that we will NEVER be satisfied by stuff, so I need to constantly make it my goal to be content with what I have.

We must be careful that while we work to feed our earthly appetites, our souls are not going hungry.

It might be time for a magazine fast for me.

¹⁰ Whatever exists has already been named,
    and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
    with someone who is stronger.
¹¹ The more the words,
    the less the meaning,
    and how does that profit anyone?

¹² For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

God will not let us be happy through things.  He has stacked the deck of life and determined that life is to know Him.

He has made all things for our pleasure, but they are not meant to be the constituents of a perfect, little life.  If we think that a "perfect life" is the best thing for us, we are sorely mistaken.  God wants us to be happy, but that's not the only thing He wants for us, because He knows that true happiness comes only through walking with Him by faith no matter what life brings.

He gives, and He takes away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.



Molly Monroe

Ecclesiastes 5:13-20 (For the Love of Money, Part 2)

¹³ I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
¹⁴   or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
    there is nothing left for them to inherit.
¹⁵ Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
    and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
    that they can carry in their hands.

¹⁶ This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart,
    and what do they gain,
    since they toil for the wind?
¹⁷ All their days they eat in darkness,
    with great frustration, affliction and anger.

¹⁸ This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. ²⁰ They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

Few of us know how to handle lots of money.  Think about the man who wins the lottery, but is bankrupt a few years later and worse off than before.  Think of the entertainers who make millions just to spend it all away.  And I think of myself when I get $20 from someone for my birthday -- it's often gone in a matter of 24 hours!

So, I like the honesty of verse 13, "wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners."  Let's be sure: wealth can cause great harm to us.  Hoarding doesn't mean that you aren't spending it -- it just means you aren't sharing it.  It's nothing new, apparently, that people like to hoard their money, and it's also not surprising to God that when we do this, we can be harmed. 

People can be killed because of their money.  They might lose family relationships because of their money and their decisions with that money.  They might become addicted to substances because of their money.  Or they might become the most lonely they've ever been because of their money.

Life can be so much more simple without lots of money.  Sure you can pay all your bills on time, but that might be the single great thing about it.

Have you ever considered that one of God's great mercies to you is He restricts the amount of money you can make?

So, now what if God has given you some money.  Well, here's what Solomon says:

¹⁸ This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. ²⁰ They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

No matter how much money we have, we need to work and we need to enjoy what we have!  Enjoy today rather than being concerned about the future.  Do the work God has given you to do, and then come home and spend time with your family, have a nice meal on the back porch together, go buy some frozen yogurt afterwards, and enjoy what God has given you.  Don't hoard it -- share it!  Be thankful and content, and no matter how much you have, God will keep you so busy being glad that you won't have time to look back on what it used to be or on what's to come.




Molly Monroe

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12) For the Love of Money, Part 1

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.

¹¹ As goods increase,
    so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
    except to feast their eyes on them?

¹² The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
    whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
    permits them no sleep.


I admit, I have had many moments where I've thought things like, "Well, if we could just become wealthy somehow, all our problems would go away."  It is so easy to get caught in the trap that money fixes everything!  We think if we become "wealthy" that we'd have a much better life.  And wealth does serve one great purpose: you would have enough that you don't have to worry about your needs (your real needs, I mean, not our perceived "needs").  But that it truly the only problem it fixes.  In fact, as I have seen in the lives of some of my loved ones, wealth can cause the same amount of problems, just different ones!

Here in Verse 10, we see that loving money puts us in a Catch-22 -- it's wanting something that will never satisfy.  We will never have enough.  I mean, really, have you ever heard someone tell his boss that he doesn't need another raise ever again because he already has plenty?  Or a woman say that she makes $100,000 now and doesn't want to make a cent more?  No!  Even when we reach a financial goal, the satisfaction only remains for a short time...then we want more.  Once you have tasted what its like to have some money, you will want more.  So, don't be fooled by it.  It will not satisfy.

Verse 11 tells us that as we make more money and have more stuff, so increases the people who want to be "a part" of our lives.  Haven't you heard of wealthy people who went bankrupt and also lost all their "friends" because their friends were just around for what they could get?  The great news is that when you don't have lots of money, if someone likes you, it just for who you really are.  Now THAT is something to be thankful for!

And finally, sleep.  If you think you're having a hard time sleeping because of your lack of money, Solomon is telling us here that sleep is even worse for those who have it!  Wealth becomes a major distraction -- constantly checking stocks, moving around investments, always watching your back to make sure no one steals from you, making sure you're constantly making more money so they won't come and take away your playthings.  Do you think this guy can just sit and enjoy a glass of lemonade on the back porch?  I doubt it. Wealth does not generally give rest.

I wonder, have we ever considered that one of God's greatest mercies to us is when He restricts the amount of money we make? 



Molly Monroe

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 (Ears Open, Mouth Shut)

5 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. ² Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

³ Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.
⁴ When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. ⁵ It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. ⁶ Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
⁷ Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.


<sup>I remember the day well.  I could smell the meaty sauce she was stirring as I entered through the garage, and before I even saw her face, I was eagerly telling Mom what I wanted, and therefore, what I was going to do that evening with my friends.  I concluded my monologue with, "So I need twenty bucks."


She reminded me that I had not even greeted her yet, to which I'm sure I said a very non-heartfelt "hi," and then she let me know that we would discuss it.  In my teenage narcissism, I began to raise my voice in annoyance and pride to let Mom know that I sure was going to do what I wanted to do.  She quickly and firmly reminded me to "Watch your tone of voice, Molly."  As I should have.

She is the one in control of me.  At that time, she was in control of my schedule.  She has much more authority than I did as a mere sixteen-year-old.  And I should never have approached her that way, especially the part about not even saying "hi" first before I so confidently rattled off what I wanted and what I was going to do.

And that's what Solomon is saying here.  When you approach God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut.  Don't go in listing all the things you want and telling Him all the things you are going to do.  Instead, listen.  And learn.  He is holy, invisible, exalted, and supreme.  I am just a person among billions that live on this earth and can't even get my cat to obey me.

And then we when we do finally speak, we need to watch our words.  We shouldn't make promises to Him that we can't keep, and we shouldn't come at Him pointing our fingers.  He is God.  I am not.

Does that mean that we can't be honest with Him?  Absolutely not.  When my mom died, I can remember a conversation I had with God...well, more like at God, complete with mental finger-pointing.  And yes, He can absolutely handle it, and I think He wants to hear how we're really feeling.  But if I find that whenever I approach Him, I do so with a completed agenda and never allow time to listen for His voice and ask Him if I'm anywhere near where He wants me, then I probably need to, as they say, "check myself before I wreck myself." 

Sometimes I still act like that teenager.  Sometimes I come to the One who loves me and demand what I want without ever considering that He might have a different plan for me.  I spout off all that I am going to do, and consequently, what I need Him to do for me to ensure that plan, without taking into account that He is more concerned about my eternal well-being</sup> than my spur-of-the-moment plans for some fun.

<sup>As I approach God this week,  I want to listen more and talk less. 




Molly Monroe</sup> 

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 (Lonely)

⁷ Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

⁸ There was a man all alone;
    he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
    yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
    “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
    a miserable business!

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

 My neighbors moved here from Ohio a few years ago to take a job.  They brought their two kids, three dogs, two cats, and a handful of snakes with them (I haven't ever asked the actual number of pet snakes next door, because I really don't want to know the truth).

They are nice people, always saying hi when we're getting our mail or passing on the road.  But I've noticed that they don't have many visitors -- I'd expect that their friends and family are still in Ohio.

This past fall, the husband's brother (and best friend) died in a car accident suddenly.  I tried to offer to bring food or help take care of their pets while they went back to Ohio (and if they'd said yes, I would be hiring someone to feed those snakes).  But they said "No, thank you. We are fine."  

Then winter came, and in Indiana you don't see your neighbors much because everyone stays indoors until about mid-March.  So, yesterday, I just saw the wife for the first time really since late November.  And she did not look well.   Even through her car window, I could tell that her eyes were tired, her skin looked older, and she'd let her gray hair grow in rather than get her usual color.

My heart ached for them.  They are grieving still, and they are pretty much all alone except for the four of them.  I was wondering at that moment if maybe they were wishing they hadn't taken this job and that they were back in Ohio...I don't know.

⁷ Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

⁸ There was a man all alone;
    he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
    yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
    “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
    a miserable business!

 

Here's a guy who is working so hard, but he doesn't have anyone to share his life with because he doesn't have any relationships.  I'm sure at his work place people might say hi to him, they might ask him how his weekend was or if he watched the game last night...but that's as deep as it goes.  He's like an Ebenezer Scrooge, with or without the grumpiness.  He has no one, but there is still no end to his labor.  He has sacrificed relationship for riches and it's not what he thought it would be.

How many people have shortchanged time with their families for an extra $10,000 a year?  Or how many young consultants don't have relationships because they travel all the time and their only "friend" is a hotel TV?

Ty Cobb, the great Detroit Tiger whose harshness constantly pushed people away, said, "If I had to do it over, I'd make more friends."  Money and fame weren't enough.

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Solomon reminds us that life is met better with two people rather than just one.  If one's having a hard day, the other will encourage him.  Working together, two will accomplish more than just one.  And two can keep warm together, which we could say has some deep metaphorical meaning, but I'm telling you: nothing gets my cold feet warmer at bedtime than sticking them between Josh's calves (sorry, Josh).  Life is just better with two -- and it doesn't have to mean a spouse.  Life is buddies.  Life is pals.  Life is friends and relationships.  Life = PEOPLE.

Even though I enjoy my husband tremendously, there are times that I just need "my girls."  We'll go for a walk and talk about the college days, or we'll stroll through a store and discuss how the chevron pattern really would go better in my bedroom than the paisley -- you know, very important things.

Solomon is asking us, "What's the use of accumulating money if you have no one with whom to spend it?"  Really, that's a great question!

To quote the author of a book I'm reading: "Life is not just making a living or performing a function. It is experiencing the delight of people. Cultivate and protect your friends.  Develop friendships with willful acts of enjoyment. Protect your friends by constant acts of courtesy and sensitivity. Make sure you stay in touch with people [especially the ones you want to keep].

When it's all said and done, the only thin you'll have with you at your funeral will be your friends and family.  The people who made money from your work won't be there, but your friends will.  And they will be crying" [brackets mine].

Are you lonely today?  Don't be lonely by design.  Choose to be a loving, giving, kind, servant-hearted friend (notice those were all about the other person, not about what you can get).  Please don't wait for people to reach out to you, because they may not.  If you desire true friends, tell God about it.  Then, go invite someone to go out for a cup of coffee and be prepared to ASK a lot of questions (no one wants to be a friend to someone who does all the talking), and be prepared to share a little bit of yourself with that person -- be real.

It takes time to develop friendships that are pure and deep.  But it's worth it.  Solomon and I agree that when it comes to true friends, there is absolutely nothing more valuable.

Molly Monroe

Ecclesiates 4:4-7 (Some)

⁴ And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

⁵ Fools fold their hands
    and ruin themselves.
⁶ Better one handful with tranquillity
    than two handfuls with toil
    and chasing after the wind

I had the opportunity to visit a local church other than my home church last week while I was nannying (also the reason I haven't posted for a little while).  The pastor was kicking off a sermon series on "Surviving Success."  He said how churches so often talk about all the bad things going on in our lives and how to live for Christ in the midst of those difficult things (which is an important topic for sure), but how we rarely talk about what to do when we are successful!  He reminded us that often we do better when we are failing yet relying on God than when we're succeeding and thinking that we can do this thing without Him.

For much of his kick-off sermon for this topic, he talked about work.  As we will have seen in Ecclesiastes.  Remember Chapter 2?...

²⁴ A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God...

Again in Chapter 3...

¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
And again: ²² So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot.

Finding satisfaction in our work is part of the plan.  Work is part of His plan for us. 

But it's not the whole plan.  Work was still never meant to become our "ultimate".  To keep our work in its proper place, we must remember that we are doing it for God.  Our jobs, our volunteer activities, our chores at home...in all work we do, we honor Him.

Solomon reminds us in today's verses that most men are motivated to succeed because of their envy.  

⁴ And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

We want to compete with our friends and neighbors and the stranger who lives in the huge house down the street.  But if that's the reason we do our work, the only product we will produce is more envy.  There will be no satisfaction.  It will be meaningless.  Because even if you are able to buy that big house someday, you will quickly find that the big house doesn't fill the hole you thought it would.  Yes, I'd say that's meaningless!

Then he reminds us about the other side of the coin.  The man who looks at all these people running around and working so hard and striving for achievement and success, and he says, Look at all of them running around like that!  What a waste of energy.  They probably won't even get what they want anyway.  Why would I ever do that?  I'd much prefer to sit on my couch and watch T.V.  To this man, Solomon says,

⁵ Fools fold their hands
    and ruin themselves.

Let us not swing the pendulum too far, my friends!  We don't want to just sit back and "wait" for something to come to us either.  This hits home for me -- I'm not one who is a natural go-getter.  I mean, I made my sister sell my girl scout cookies for me for heaven's sake!

So I'm not a sales woman.  That's okay!  There is other work I can do -- work that I do enjoy much more than selling things.  But I'm still learning that I can't just sit back and wait for things.  That's not being selfish -- that's what we're called to do!  Or we will come to ruin.  Being a "sluggard" is a slow suicide.

So just to make sure the "All or Nothing" types heard him, Solomon says it one more time:

⁶ Better one handful with tranquillity
    than two handfuls with toil
    and chasing after the wind

One handful.  Some.  Some will bring you peace.  We don't need all, and we aren't meant to be okay with nothing if we're able to work. 

Knowing I put in a good day's work is a wonderful feeling.  Being completely wiped out at the end of the day because I tried to do it ALL -- that leads to more stress.

So I'm going to do what I can to enjoy my work.  I'll work hard.  But I do not want to try to do it all, and I don't need to have it all.  I just want some.  And what I do and what I may earn, I want to remember the Source.  He is my motivation.  He is the reason I do what I do.



Molly Monroe

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 (Five-Star Fake)

 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
    and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
    and they have no comforter.
² And I declared that the dead,
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.
³ But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.

Chapter 4 begins with an honest look at the oppression and grief in the world.  Solomon says:

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
    and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
    and they have no comforter.

He doesn't shy away from the truth.  He doesn't sugar-coat it.  Some of the things we see on this earth are just heart wrenching.  To fully understand the human experience, and even more so God's love for us and His sacrifice and design for us, we have to understand just how miserable it can be without Him.  And hardship doesn't just go away once we have Christ either.  The black keys can sure play louder in our lives at times than the white keys.  Solomon says, it's tough being human!  Can I get an "amen"?!  We are told that we can find perfection down here, but we cannot.  The hurts and pains will not go completely away until Christ returns.  But in the meantime, we have the Prince of Peace, the Comforter, the Calmer of the Seas walking with us and living inside us.

² And I declared that the dead,
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.

Solomon knows it, and so do those who have lost a loved one.  How much greater it is to be with Christ in paradise than to be stuck in the muck of this earthly life!  Being alive is not the best place to be, and he reminds us that we can be glad for those who have gone on to be with the Lord.  No more tears, no more strife, no more worry.  All joy. 

³ But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.

And those verses sure came as a shock to me when I read them.  The Bible mentions miscarriage here.  It talks about the person who did exist but who was never born.  And how that person is better than the living AND the dead because they never had to even endure this earth.  The literally get the best of both worlds!  What a comfort when I'm tempted to stay stuck in the "what might have beens".

I'm not sure why it has taken me almost thirty years to get this, but for the first time, in this season of my life, I'm finally surrendering to the fact that life is hard.  I keep thinking that when _____ happens, then I'll be happy and content and satisfied.  But it's not true.  That's a lie.

A week ago, Josh and I went away for three days together.  We had accumulated a bunch of points on a credit card that we knew we were going to cancel in the upcoming week, so we decided to cash in all of our points and really live it up for the weekend!  We stayed at a five-star hotel, surrounded by beauty and absolute comfort, and we ate incredible food with flavors I'd never tasted and drank impeccable drinks.  It was the high-life.  And yet, even in the midst of "perfection," I worked my way into a major funk on Saturday.  I was experiencing the top that this world has to offer, and yet my heart was heavy about some other things in my life.  I was running in the five-star spa and workout facility all alone on Saturday afternoon, but soon tears were streaming down my face and I was over-whelmed with loneliness.  This isn't supposed to be like this, I thought.  Isn't this moment right here what we humans strive for?  Why isn't it filling me the way I thought it would?

And then I realized what I had thought.  Of course it's not filling me!  It can't.  The only thing that can fill me is Jesus Christ -- all other attempts are just a ruse.  My pain is real, and it won't be mended by some five-star fancy attempt to patch it up.  The only one who can do that is Christ.

So there on the treadmill, I asked Jesus to carry my pain.  He had carried it before, but I'd taken it back.  I heard Him whisper to me "I'm right here, Molly.  You're not alone."  And suddenly all the fanciness found its way back where it belonged:  as something to be enjoyed, not exalted.

As Solomon reminds us, life is hard.  This world under the sun does not have the cure for our pain, our worry, our loneliness, and our sense of worthlessness.  It's good to surrender it all to God and to admit that we can't carry it.  Because, we can't.  Only He can do that.

I don't have all the answers.  I don't know all the whys.  But He does.  

And He carries them much better than I ever can.

Molly Monroe