Getting Nowhere Fast!

Recently, I’ve been doing some running on the treadmill at the gym. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but at times it beats running in the cold or in the rain. And it’s convenient—an easy way to get a run in at the end of the day. Yet, running on a treadmill can be a bit frustrating. After all, although as you run you see the miles increase, you know you’ve not gone anywhere. The display tells you that you’ve gone two, three, four miles (or whatever it is), but when you are done you’re in the exactly the same place where you started. Running on a treadmill means you are literally getting nowhere fast! 

Have you ever felt that way about your life? You know what I mean. You’re putting in a ton of effort, you’re giving it your best shot, you really are trying hard, but with little results. For all of your hard work, you’re not getting much of a return. It seems like you are getting nowhere fast! 

This is exactly what the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes was feeling when he wrote, “…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.” (Ecclesiastes 2:11 – NIV)  It’s a common human experience. One invests themselves into working hard, trying to make a living, trying to achieve something notable or do something worthwhile with their life. One day, however, they wake up, often near the end of their life, and look back at all they had done and they feel as if they spent their life getting nowhere fast. In their mind, all their hard work was in vain. Again, it’s a common human experience. We all feel it in some way at some time within our lives. 

So, what’s the answer? The writer gives this answer: “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,  for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25) He goes on to write, “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13) 

In other words, rather than constantly striving for something that is ahead of you—that elusive feeling of accomplishment, success, and satisfaction—take time to enjoy your life, even your work, in the present, knowing that all you have is a gift from the hand of God. And realize that ultimate satisfaction is going to come when one day we experience the eternity that he has set within our hearts, the eternity to which he calls us, the eternity that he is right now preparing for those who will trust him. 

We might say, enjoy and be thankful for the treadmill! Rather than being frustrated that you’re running has gotten you nowhere fast, enjoy the blessing of being able to run on that treadmill as a gift from God. And know that, for all those who will live for him, in the end God has in store something much greater than a mere treadmill. 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris