“For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun? Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

Did you ever have one of those days? While cutting the grass, the lawnmower broke… AGAIN! I had pieced it back together before, knowing full well it wouldn’t last. It is a poorly designed machine built to NOT last. The company that built it may have filed bankruptcy, but my grass still needed to be cut. Wading through the options, I was trying to find a sensible plan.

“I COULD just go buy a new mower, I thought. But I did NOT want to spend $400. Sweating, I took it apart to discover the problem, then shopped online for the part. Delivery would take 2 weeks. The local mower shop MAY be able to help sooner. But they weren’t answering their phone. Driving there, I was glad to hear they could have the part the next day. “VICTORY!!!!” Getting back in my 100+ degree truck cab, the fan for my AC abruptly stopped fanning. “WHAAAAAAA,” I hollered in frustration.

That I had just saved almost $400 was destroyed when I THOUGHT, “I’m going to have to take this to the shop! Is something out there determined to make me pay $400 today?” It was a real question. Suddenly, from the back of my mind I had the thought…check the fuse! I did…and even had a spare! “VICTORY!” Excited, I wanted to tell my wife. When I walked in the room, she dropped her glasses… and they broke! “AAAAAAA!”

Did you ever have one of those days? The Bible tells us the richest, most powerful and wise person in the world had them. In fact, he wrote a book about it called Ecclesiastes. It sums up the life of man in 1 word…MEANINGLESS! I felt my life at that moment, was just like that! In despair, I put on some Jesus music and decided to just keep busy while talking to God. Which is EXACTLY the conclusion of Solomon’s book! It eventually worked!

At the end of the day I don’t know much more than when I started. SOMETHING seemed to want to make me spend $400. I know.. it sounds crazy. But thinking through and talking to God seemed to bring solutions that worked on my heart. Even my wife found acceptable replacement glasses online…3 for $20! After all is said and done, I guess I can affirm that living with Jesus Is NOT meaningless. Even if I would have had to spent $400!