THE VANITY OF THE GRIND To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26 We live in a culture that worships the grind. Yet, Scripture warns us that productivity without a relationship with God leads to burnout and chasing after the wind. We often get caught in the cycle of gathering and storing, thinking that if we just get one more promotion, save one more dollar, or check one more thing off our list, we will finally feel secure. When we chase the wind, we eventually become exhausted. That pace is not something we can sustain. It is a heavy burden we were never meant to carry. When we work apart from God, the work never ends, and the satisfaction never stays. Like trying to grab the wind with our bare hands, the security we work so hard for remains just out of reach. But when our focus becomes about beholding God and desiring to know Him more, everything changes. God gives the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who seek to please Him. Notice that these aren’t things we earn through the grind, they are things God gives us as we focus on Him. While those who strive to store for themselves live a life of stress, those who live to please the Lord find a life of peace. Work becomes a partnership with God rather than an attempt to be our own provider. Are you running faster and faster but feeling like you’re going nowhere? Is your work a gift from God or a task you’re performing to find your own security? Let’s shift our focus today from what we are gathering to Who we are pleasing. True happiness is found in the presence of God, not the size of the storehouse. God bless you!