Are you chasing the wind?

The next cup of coffee, the never ending need for time to yourself, validation from those around us, the ways of the world… to chase these is to be chasing the wind. Are you?

In the beginning of my homemaking, I felt this sense of longing inside me. I was a Christian, but I hadn’t yet learned how to be fulfilled by Christ. I was searching for fulfillment in anything else.

I was always trying to find something to satisfy the longing. Deep down I knew I was discontent, but it didn’t stop me from trying to find contentment in the ways of the world.

But those attempts at filling the void I hadn’t yet learned could only be filled by Christ continued to leave me lacking. It wasn’t until the Lord revealed to me that all of things I had been using to try to find fulfillment were the wind, and I was chasing the wind.

What does chasing the wind really mean?

To strive after the wind is to chase things in this life for fulfillment. To think that the right thing could somehow make us feel whole. When we strive we seek satisfaction in our works, belongings or relationships. Yet we always come up empty handed, because these worldly gifts were never meant to renew our souls.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

“I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

The emptiness of striving

The writer of Ecclesiastes names all of the things that failed to satisfy him. By all wordy standards, he should have been the most contented man around. But we have been sold a lie from the world. A lie that tells us that achievements, recognition or possessions can make us feel whole.

Before I became a Christian I was desperate to seek out the approval of those around me. I would love to say that this sin disappeared the instant I began following Jesus, but the truth is, the Lord walked me through fire to reveal to me just how bad my striving was.

I measured my worth in the praise, validation and opinion of others. I thought that if I was liked by the people around me, if I could get the attention I wanted then I would feel worthy.

This may look different for you. Maybe you strive to feel something with constant online shopping or takeout and drive thru pit stops. Maybe you strive for achievements from work for fulfillment.

All of these roads of striving lead to the same destination, emptiness apart from Jesus Christ.

He is the only one who can fill the emptiness we seek to occupy with all of our vain striving. His love and renewal is the only road that leads to true joy and contentment.

Ways Homemakers Strive

Every homemaker that struggles with striving goes about it in her own unique way. I mentioned a few above, but here are some more examples that might hit home with you..

• Doing things in order that your husband will notice and give you praise, and then being sour when he doesn’t.
• Constantly checking your phone for that dopamine rush
• Getting frustrated at friends when they don’t text you back
• Lacking self control in finances because swiping your card or ordering things online makes you feel something, however briefly
• Over cleaning your home for your own satisfaction, only to be frustrated by the people who live in it when it inevitably gets messy
• Being upset when your children don’t validate you in the way you want them to
• Seeking attention from men that are not your husband
• Always trying to impress those around you with your housekeeping, wardrobe, cooking or anything else that causes you to feel superior to your peers
• Measuring yourself against those around you
• Using caffeine or alcohol to cope with motherhood or general life circumstances
• Always seeking time to yourself but never coming back refreshed when you do get that time
• Constantly sticking your kids in the car to drive around because y are overwhelmed at home

The list could go on, and maybe you struggle with something I didn’t specifically list. Regardless of what it is, all striving is a sin.

Striving and a life of chasing the wind tells God, “You are not enough to fulfill me. I need something more.” Yikes.

But fear not, it is not a pit of despair with no way out. In fact, if you are in the middle of recognizing your striving, the Lord is probably using that to pull you out right this very minute.

How do we end our chasing the wind?

If we study scripture, we will see clearly that God does not abandon us in our striving, or any other sin for that matter. He sent us a perfect rescuer from all of our weight and sins that cling so closely, a rescuer in the form of a man who never strived or chased the wind.

When God saved you from your sin, he took your heart of stone and gave you a heart of flesh. One that could recognize your sin through the help of the Holy Spirit, who is God Himself living in you.

Scripture tells us this about what will happen if we go to God with our requests.. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8.

Does this mean God is just some genie in a bottle and we can rub the lamp to ask for anything we want as far as worldly possessions go? Of course not. But what it does mean is that if we are asking for good things, things that bring glory to Him, He will open the door for us.

John 14:13 tell us “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” This means that if we are asking for things that will bring glory to God, He is sure to do it for us.

We were created to bring glory to God. That is the reason we are put into the world, and He wants nothing more for His children than to help them do what they were created to do.

If we humble ourselves at the foot of the cross and ask Him to help us feel content in whatever His will is for us, He will do it. He will give us contentment in hard seasons. He will give us joy when things aren’t necessarily going our way. He will give us patience and peace that transcends our circumstances, because it glorifies Him.

And the coolest part is, the way he works to bring glory to Himself through us benefits us richly. Because when you are content in His will and joyful in your circumstances, you will feel a peace that could never, ever be caught by chasing the wind.