But I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I have been reading through the book of Ecclesiastes this week. At first, I found this book to be quite depressing and sobering. I really felt sad for Solomon, yet I seem to identify with him. The Bible says that Solomon was a wise man, no doubt his spiritual gift. The book was written at the end of his life as he reflected back on on "everything". He basically says he searched and searched for many things, but found everything to be meaningless. What? Meaningless? How did this book get in the Bible again? As I began to meditate on the Scriptures, the Lord began to speak to me about something. What are the things we search for? Why do we search for them? What should we be searching for? Then the flood gates opened. I made a list that seemed to never end. We search for knowledge, significance, love, happiness, peace, wealth, success, power, meaning, justice, beauty, and even redemption. Ecclesiates 6:7 says, "We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry." (The Message) I have observed and experienced the disappointment and frustration in this search. The search has left me unsatisfied and still searching. Does anybody else identify with this?

The one verse that keeps going through my mind is Ecclesiastes 7:28, "Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for." Okay, I admit it. I am a huge U2 fan; So when I read this, I immediately thought of the famous song by them. Is the search itself wrong? I think not. I believe that God put in every human a need for Him. His design was for us to find all that we search for to be in Him. I love this passage from Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:4-8
Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Stay with me, I am coming to my point. If the search for everything is found in Him, what are we searching for?? The heart of God. What will we find there? Salvation through faith, grace, love, joy, peace, significance, comfort, help, encouragement, and the list could go on and on.

For me, the search is over. I have secured my connection to the heart of God. He is my secure connection. My secure connection to the heart of God is what brings meaning to everything I do. As a wife, mother, friend, employee, etc; It is my connection to the heart of God that allows me to do any of this well.

This I do believe is the message Solomon wanted to get across.