King Solomon was eminently qualified to make the following statement about human effort void of God, that “work that is done under the sun…is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” from Ecclesiastes 2:17-22.
Many of us have felt that futility--that vapor, that appearance of substance only--during our lives. For me, this was experienced at a time when I had a perfect job at an oil company, without debt, happily married and a stable future of ease and comfort. But, what was missing? Why a ‘divine discontent’ leading me to ask if all of this was just chasing after the wind?
A two-month mission trip to India with Harold McGregor (perhaps known to some of you) was the tool that God used to show me how great the needs in this hurting and unsaved world were, and why each of us must find our place to serve and use His gifts for helping others come to Christ. The barriers to salvation might be spiritual blindness, lack of access to a Bible or even the burden of daily survival in carrying water from a distant stream.
This ‘divine discontent’ lead me to join SonSet Solutions (formally HCJB) 17 years ago, where they seek to remove those barriers to Christ through Christian radio stations and water projects. My great privilege now is to do things like build a radio antenna for Burkina Faso, or install a long-lasting pump in Zambia. My life now, using those same engineering gifts from the Lord, no longer chases the wind but employs those unseen air waves to help others broadcast the Gospel. Those same skills, no longer fixing pumps at an oil company, are used to install pumps in rural areas, so that the Living Water can be shared.
Stephen Peacock
(DAY 19)