I was great therefore I hated life

Here in Nashville, there are areas that are filled with mansions.  I have driven by them many times and thought to myself that they must have it all together and their life must be great.  But when you sit down and talk to someone who lives in one of these mansions or if you hear about them on the news you find out that their life is not as great as you would expect.

No matter what this world can give you, it is not enough.  It is always missing something.

Solomon understood this.

Ecc 2:9 — Ecc 2:18
So I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me and stood by me.
And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion and reward for all my toil.
Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it, and there was no profit under the sun.
So I turned to consider [human] wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing but what has been done already.
Then I saw that even [human] wisdom [that brings sorrow] is better than [the pleasures of] folly as far as light is better than darkness.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that [in the end] one event happens to them both.
Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me. And of what use is it then for me to be more wise? Then I said in my heart, This also is vanity (emptiness, vainglory, and futility)!
For of the wise man, the same as of the fool, there is no permanent remembrance, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.
And I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will succeed me.

He had gathered finances and homes.  He obtained great wisdom.  He tried every pleasure that he could think up.  In the end, he makes the statement that he hated life.  He said this because no matter how hard you try to get ahead in this life it is just vanity and strife. 

Solomon ends this chapter like this:

Ecc 2:24 — Ecc 2:26
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.
For who can eat or who can have enjoyment any more than I can—apart from Him?
For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and heaping up, that he may give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

God has given us food and drink and the ability to work.  So, the next time we think we have it so bad, just remember, as long as we have food on the table and a job, we are blessed.  Everything else is just an added blessing from God.

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me today.  I want to thank you for giving me what I need today.  Thank you Lord for my job.  Help me today to be the best employee they have ever had.