More Money, More Problems

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 6.7-12
7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, 
yet their appetite is never satisfied. 
8 What advantage have the wise over fools? 
What do the poor gain 
by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? 
9 Better what the eye sees 
than the roving of the appetite. 
This too is meaningless, 
a chasing after the wind. 
10 Whatever exists has already been named, 
and what humanity is has been known; 
no one can contend 
with someone who is stronger. 
11 The more the words, 
the less the meaning, 
and how does that profit anyone? 
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone? 

Reflection: More Money, More Problems
By John Tillman

Jim Carrey has said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” 

A popular social media meme shows a person quoting the truism, “Money will not fix all your problems,” and a reply saying, “…no offense but…I don’t have a single problem money wouldn’t solve.”

Notorious BIG’s hit song tells us, “…the more money we come across, the more problems we see.”

The teacher of Ecclesiastes shows us that Carrey’s quote, the meme, and the lyric hold truth.

Ecclesiastes describes and laments the struggles of the poor, recognizing that wealth makes life more comfortable and poverty crushes the spirit. However, the teacher has experienced exactly what Carrey and BIG describe. Wealth and pleasure beyond anyone’s dreams came to the teacher, yet his spirit was still crushed with meaninglessness. Wealth does solve problems, but soon deeper problems are revealed. 

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is visualized as a pyramid. Basic needs, such as food and shelter, are the bottom, and higher-order needs are the top. This visual metaphor communicates that basic needs must be met before “climbing” up to pursue higher needs. However, this imagery may give a false impression that higher “spiritual” needs are less substantive or important.

Treating spiritual needs as if they are the tip top of some mountain that we pursue after sating other hungers is why our culture is starving in meaninglessness.

Spiritually, the base of our pyramid is to live not on bread but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4.4; Deuteronomy 8.3) This basic hunger of our soul has only one source—the teachings of Christ. “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6.33) Physical need points to spiritual need. This is why we fast and pray. Physical lack reminds us of our spiritual lack and God’s grace to us in both.

Wealth doesn’t solve all problems or fill our deepest spiritual needs. That doesn’t mean telling the poor, “Money won’t solve your problems. Try Jesus.” (Mark 7.11-13) But it does mean that those who look like they have it all often are spiritually starving to death.

Problems, physical or spiritual, are inroads for the gospel. The more problems we come across, the more need of God we see.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 6 (Listen 1:44)
Psalm 56-57 (Listen 2:11)

Read more about Artful Prayers
In the psalms, we enter the lived emotion of artists who bared their souls to God in prayers that were always intended to be performed.

Read more about Pause To Read
After a short hiatus, our podcast is back with an episode on what we can learn from Jesus’ hotheaded disciples. Don’t miss it.

What Time is It?

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 3.1-8
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

From John: Since we posted this prayer in 2022, some of these prayers have been answered. Let us not be weary. May we keep praying. Harvest, judgment, is coming.Reflection: What Time is It?
By John Tillman

There is a time. There is a season.

There are many well-known poems in the Bible. The poem describing the creation of humans. (Genesis 1.27) The Psalm of the good shepherd. (Psalm 23) The Lord’s prayer. (Luke 11.2-4) Paul’s poem about love. (1 Corinthians 13)

The teacher’s poem about time and seasons, however, might be the most well-known biblical poem in our culture. No small part of its fame is that it was turned into a megahit song by The Byrds, released in 1969. The song landed in a turbulent era. It seemed that the song’s opposites were all flooding the world and contending against each other. 

Our time is not so different from that time. We see, hear, and feel all around us the elements of the song. Love and hate, war and peace, deconstruction and reconstruction, sowing and harvesting, mourning and joy, harm and healing. 

Reading a little further, we find that the teacher also tells us of another time and season. There will be a time “to judge every deed.” There will be a season when the unseen will be seen and both the righteous and the unrighteous will face a time of judgment.

What time is it? What season are we in?

Today, let us pray that we will understand the times and seasons that we find ourselves in using some scriptures focused on seasons.

Thank God for his assurance and presence in all seasons.
Ask him to depose wickedness (within and without us) and grant us wisdom.

He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning. (Daniel 2.21)
  Pray for strength to prioritize gospel cultivation.

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4.2)

Pray for grace to understand the present time.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13.11)

Rest in him. He holds all things together.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3.8)

The time to do good is always now. Let us not be weary in it, for the time of harvest is coming. (Galatians 6.9)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
God is a righteous judge; God sits in judgment every day. — Psalm 7.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 3 (Listen 3:02)
Psalm 51 (Listen 2:19)

​This Weekend’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 4 (Listen 2:18), Psalm 52-54 (Listen 2:10)
Ecclesiastes 5 (Listen 2:50), Psalm 55 (Listen 3:18)

Read more about Miracles of Deliverance and Judgment
We pray for more than just miracles of weapons that do not prosper against the innocent. We pray for the even more miraculous deliverance of the hearts of evil leaders to change.

Read more about Why Do We Need the Leading of the Spirit?
The leading of the Spirit—O, how highly necessary is it! Who can be without it?

Over the Brink of Success

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 2.10-11, 15-18
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; 
I refused my heart no pleasure. 
My heart took delight in all my labor, 
and this was the reward for all my toil. 
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done 
and what I had toiled to achieve, 
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; 
nothing was gained under the sun. 

15 Then I said to myself, 
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also. 
What then do I gain by being wise?” 
I said to myself, 
“This too is meaningless.” 
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; 
the days have already come when both have been forgotten. 
Like the fool, the wise too must die! 

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.

Reflection: Over the Brink of Success
By John Tillman

Proverbs gives us expectations about wisdom and its outcomes. The wise prosper, find success, and are satisfied. Then Ecclesiastes dumps cold water on our optimism.

People love stories from the brink. We’ve all heard testimonies from those who approached the brink through drug use, alcoholism, sex, greed, or violence. They reached the edge, saw emptiness, and turned back. Ecclesiastes feels like one of those stories. However, Ecclesiastes is not about reaching the brink of failure or addiction. The teacher plunges over the brink of success and finds an equally empty void of meaninglessness. 

“All is meaningless,” says the teacher. “Trust me. You think wealth will satisfy you? Doing what you love? A great job? Impressive accomplishments? Unlimited sex? Sorry, folks. I did it all and it’s all meaningless”

The word translated “meaningless” is difficult. Many Bible translations render it as “vanity.” It means something transitory or unsatisfactory. Its figurative meaning is like vapor or breath. Ecclesiastes clarifies, saying it is like “chasing after the wind.” Imagine grabbing a handful of smoke. The smell of it might still be on your hands and clothes, but there is nothing substantial there.

How can Solomon, the teacher of the book, say “all is meaningless”? Isn’t one of the strengths of our faith that it gives us meaning? Is Solomon jaded and dissatisfied? Did he misuse the unique wisdom God gave to him?

The teacher sees the world as it is, up close and to excess. Whether sex, wealth, or the wisdom (and foolish idolatry) of other cultures, Solomon drank deeply of it all. It was, at least partially, a lived-out experiment.

This experiment comes at a cost of grief. Humans bit the fruit in the garden because it was “useful for gaining knowledge.” (Genesis 3.6) Solomon takes a big bite of the world’s so-called knowledge, as do we all. 

It is uncomfortable to hear the success we long for is pointless, but it’s healthy. We can’t succeed our way to joy, pleasure ourselves into love, or spend our way into significance. Joy, love, and significance come to those who pursue the treasure of our gracious God, not the trophies of a ruthless world. (Matthew 13.44)

The wisdom of Proverbs and the wisdom of Ecclesiastes are not in conflict. Both call us to trust not in attaining success but in attuning our lives to God’s voice and our to actions his purpose.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. — Psalm 43.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 2 (Listen 4:03)
Psalm 50 (Listen 2:26)

Read more about Solomon’s Folly
Most people seek to retest Solomon’s findings. “Sure, sure, wealth and pleasure are meaningless,” we say, “but let me try.”

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More Wisdom, More Grief

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 1.18
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
     the more knowledge, the more grief.

Reflection: More Wisdom, More Grief
By Erin Newton

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9.10). On the first steps of wisdom’s path, we learn about who God is and who we are. We begin to understand our faults and shortcomings paired with his unfailing mercy and grace. Our sins are laid bare, and we accept the free gift of grace from Jesus Christ.

We are made into a new creation, building upon the foundation blocks of wisdom. With eyes that now see the foolishness of our former lives, we begin to seek the Scriptures to learn more about who God is and who we are. Wisdom’s path leads us to discover our purpose in life and calling within the world.

Wisdom also reveals to us the complexity of the world. Our friends and neighbors are not merely companions or coworkers—we see them as image bearers of our God. The bonds of humanity tie our hearts with theirs. We learn to share their joys and bear their pains.

But “with much wisdom comes much sorrow.” We cannot now unsee the fallenness of creation. No longer can we look away when one human belittles another. No longer can we refuse to listen when someone cries out for help. No longer can we believe that one evil is lesser than another and somehow worthy of our admiration. We cannot pretend our actions have no negative consequences on the natural world.

Wisdom leads us to see the world as God sees it—filled with the potential of love, peace, and wholeness. However, the world is only a dim reflection of that ideal. Wisdom calls us to recognize where things have fallen short.

Just because we find wisdom does not mean we have found paradise. Our faith does not remove us from the realm of tragedy. Life, circumstantially, is not easier for a Christian than an unbeliever. Not only do we carry our own burdens, but we are aware of the needs of so many others. In this way, gaining knowledge has created increased grief.

But it is not without hope and not without a call to action. Wisdom begins with faith in God. The realities that bring us sorrow can be handled by an omnipotent God. 

Continue in wisdom. Welcome sorrow. The grief and sorrow brought by wisdom is a gift—a gift of awareness. Wisdom awakens us from the idleness of apathy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
“Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” — Psalm 46.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 1 (Listen 2:21)
Psalm 49 (Listen 2:10)

Read more about The Promise of Proverbs is Change
It is crucial to ask, “Are we becoming people of wickedness or righteousness?” What we become can change our world.

Read more about Proverbs’ House of Mirrors
Do our words rhyme with God’s? Or do they stink? Would we enjoy eating them?

The Impossibility of Proverbs 31

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 31:29
29 “Many women do noble things,
     but you surpass them all.”

Reflection: The Impossibility of Proverbs 31
By Erin Newton

Growing up with Proverbs 31 as the “checklist” of being a woman felt impossible. The excellence required stood in direct opposition to the predetermined lifestyle for women set by our brothers in the faith.

  • Be productive (vv. 13-16). This woman is entrepreneurial and hardworking. Her job takes her out of the home, and she invests with financial freedom. I was told to dream only of home and let my husband decide our (or his) finances.
  • Be strong (v. 17). This woman was physically strong. Knowing her work required heavy lifting or strenuous tasks, she probably didn’t worry when her biceps bulged. I was told my body was a blessing and a curse. I should keep a “feminine” frame (be thin) to remain the weaker vessel.
  • Be talented (vv. 18-19, 22, 24). She works in agriculture and husbandry. She makes clothing and textiles—a “Jane” of all trades. I was told I could have hobbies, as long as they stood in the shadows of my role in the family. I felt like Elizabeth Bennet responding to the supposed qualifications of a woman: “I never saw such a woman. She would certainly be a fearsome thing to behold.”
  • Be a wise teacher (v. 26). She is revered for her instruction—a feature that usually only comes from extensive learning. I was told my speaking had limits and boundaries. I was accepted if it was within the walls of a classroom not a church, on a Saturday not Sunday, behind a lectern not a pulpit, called a devotional not a sermon, and under the title of teacher not pastor.
  • Be extraordinary (vv. 10, 28-29). She is so rare she can hardly be found. She is not like everyone else. She excels in every possible way. She is a rare gem and worthy of honor and praise. I was once called special and one of a kind—by another married man who was supposed to be my religious leader.

I do not mind having her as an example for my life, but the Church sometimes prevents that which it demands. She sets a high bar filled with opportunity, independence, and strength. She is probably Woman Wisdom, making this the bookend of female encounters in Proverbs. If she is the ideal for all women, she is also the ideal for all men—not as a requirement for one’s spouse but as a required way of life.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Sing praise to the Lord who dwells in Zion; proclaim to the peoples the things he has done. — Psalm 9.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Proverbs 31 (Listen 2:50)
Psalm 48 (Listen 1:28)

Read more about Lady Wisdom
After the cloying voice of the temptress, and vivid descriptions of her hapless victims, a new voice speaks out in Proverbs—Lady Wisdom.

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