"One hand full of rest and patience is better than two fists full of labor and chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastes 4:6

Several years ago, my sister and I did a study through Ecclesiastes together. Each week we would take a chapter, take notes, study things that stood out to us. Then we would come back on a Wednesday morning and chat over what we had learned.

These precious moments I look back on with fondness. During that season, I was a new mamma, and I needed all the reminders that this book has.

Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon. The wisest king to date. He was given his wisdom by God Himself, then riches upon riches. In his life Solomon wrote Proverbs. The positive book on wisdom. While Ecclesiastes seems to take a darker, more depressed tone.

How tired Solomon sounds in this book. He mimics how I felt as a new mama, and even now as a mama of 4.

My days are long, my patience short, and I am like a rung-out dishrag at the end of the day. Limp and exhausted. But as my understanding of rest – biblical rest – is growing I am realizing how right Solomon is. Striving is “vanity of vanities! All is vanity”

The amplified Bible says it like this

"Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God's guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless, - wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing wind]" 
Eccleciastes 1:2b

All my endeavors as a mama are going to make me exhausted. But if I am resting like the Lord has called me to do my tasks aren’t as daunting.

“As we pursue God’s rest (quietness, calm, patience), he’ll align us with the work he created for us so we no longer spend our days striving after the wind but instead live for His glory.” – Eryn Lynum

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Your Monday Moment

What are some things that you are striving after today?

How would striving after God’s glory change how you work this week?