Chasing Enough

King David, after 3000 years, is still considered Israel’s greatest and most popular king. No other king comes close—what we call “a tough act to follow.” King Solomon, David’s son, became famous for having unparalleled wisdom and wealth.

2 Chronicles 1:7-10 (CSB): “That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask. What should I give you?’

And Solomon said to God, ‘You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place. LORD God, let your promise to my father David now come true. For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of yours?’”

God gave the young king what he desired. “Wisdom and knowledge.” Solomon’s administrative boldness proved to be genius. His curiosity for the natural sciences led to insights and understanding well beyond the wisest of men before him. He astonished his subjects with judicial discernment and political wisdom. Kings and queens from surrounding nations thought of Israel as the enemy, yet they sought this king’s advice and counsel.

Then, we read chapters and verses of thoughts Solomon wrote later in his life. All of them characterized by this one:

‘Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher.
‘Absolute futility. Everything is futile.’
What does a person gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 CSB).

What happened? Was God’s gift of wisdom not enough?

Solomon’s achievements were not adequate. His wealth was not sufficient. Accomplishing magnificent building projects, including the most magnificent temple Jerusalem would ever see, didn’t satisfy the son of King David. He had position, respect, power and wealth, but this king was restless and dissatisfied. Hundreds of wives and concubines? Like other kings and wealthy men? That ought to do it!

There’s a sad and sobering irony in Solomon’s story. The Lord God, king over all nations, had gifted a consequential request by any human standard. Yet, Solomon looked and lusted and chased after what neighboring kings possessed. What he got was an infestation of evil worshipers in the beautiful city he’d put so much time and effort into.

Reading all that groaning is hard on the eyes and harder on the ears. But like Solomon, I chase after satisfaction. His story reminds me that more of anything won’t be enough when I measure “enough” by what I see others having and enjoying.

Hello. My name is Rita, and I’m a recovering shopaholic. I’m about thirty years sober if we don’t count my multiple relapses.

Solomon had no excuse, and neither did I, but I was widowed with two kids, and one on the way—at the age of twenty-eight. That’s when the comparisons became especially troublesome. I wanted my kids not to suffer or be made fun of. I didn’t want to downgrade our lifestyle. The same was not enough. I wanted better. I felt the need to prove something.

I worked hard to make sure my kids had the good things two-parent kids enjoyed. The clothes and shoes from the right stores, the house and neighborhood, and most of the gadgets and toys. If they asked, and I didn’t give it to them, it was because I knew it wouldn’t be good for them.

I paid the mortgage. We ate well. The water and electric might have been late a time or two, but we were never “shut off.” I didn’t go around bragging about those facts. That’s not something a respectable mother would do. I tithed. But there was always a balance on my credit card statements. The sad irony in my story and my desire was that later, much later, I learned that some of those two-parent families I’d been emulating were in a pile of debt much deeper than mine. I wondered. With whom had they compared, and who had they matched their lifestyle to?

I recall that sinking feeling each month as the interest accumulated, when all I could afford was the minimum payment. There were times I’d shop to get out of the house and get my mind off my trouble … that single parent loneliness. Futile. Absolutely futile.

But it wasn’t! It was painful, but not futile.

The comparison trap leaves scars. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Some would admit it leads to nowhere. I need to tell you that it leads you … That’s the issue. It leads you!

Solomon figured out (eventually) where satisfaction comes from. He tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:24-26:

“There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him? For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.”

I ask myself a lot of questions these days, not because I need an answer. But because I need to stay focused. Is this consequential? What am I looking for? Who am I longing to please?

Solomon would still say “For the person who is pleasing in his sight, he [God] gives wisdom, knowledge and joy.”

And there’s the answer. And that’s enough.

“And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these.If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30).

Written by Rita Klundt.
Author and speaker, Rita Klundt’s, all-time favorite read is a true and transparent story with an only-God-could’ve-done-that ending. If something happens, good, tragic or funny, Klundt encourages women, not only to tell it, but to write it. Her memoir, “Goliath’s Mountain,” is a poignant and tragic love story that deals with mental illness and suicide. Klundt compiled and published stories from other Christian women, all with ties to Illinois. That award winning book, “Real Life. Real Ladies: Short Stories from the Pew” is about to become the first in a series. Rita and her husband live in Pekin, Illinois. You can find her online on her website and on Facebook. 
You can find more of Rita's posts on the PriorityNow Blog here.