There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.- Ecclesiastes 8:14-15
I deserve to be happy. I want to feel good. I demand satisfaction.
The cry of Solomon’s heart rings loudly in this passage. It is the cry of entitlement.
Solomon struggles to understand why God allows the wicked to succeed and the righteous to suffer. In his frustration, this great mystery leads him to embrace earthly satisfaction stating in verse 15 that “…man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be merry…”
In today’s reading, we witness Solomon’s struggle with entitlement. Entitlement is the baby brother of pride. Entitlement is the belief that you deserve to be given something. Solomon believes he is entitled to judge who is wicked and who is righteous. He believes he is entitled to understand how and why God chooses who He blesses. He believes he is entitled to a sensual, pleasure-filled life.
Much of the time, entitlement hides in the believer’s heart and remains unseen in her life. However, entitlement is exposed quickly when we are faced with unmet expectations, when we compare our circumstances to others and when we are in the midst of suffering. Our thankfulness and gratitude towards God can quickly turn into demands. “Lord, I love and serve You faithfully. I deserve healing. I deserve a better job. I deserve a husband that loves me. I deserve to be taken care of. I deserve respect. I deserve to understand why this is happening to me. I deserve more.” Like Solomon, the cry of our heart can become one of entitlement. What hides beneath our demands is this subtle whisper from Satan: “God, what You have given me is not good enough. You owe me better.” If we drift too far from God, we, like Solomon, will strive to satisfy our desires on our own.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.- Colossians 3:1-4
The remedy to the believer’s struggle with entitlement is to reflect on who we are in Christ and how He sees us. When we reflect on the Good News of Jesus Christ, we remember that God owes us nothing, but blesses us with everything. When we set our hearts and our minds on things above, we resist the desire to grasp solely at earthly blessings, because God offers heavenly blessings that are far better. When we reflect on God’s desire for us, we realize that God has not called us simply to be happy, but also to be holy.
God desires for us to experience abundant lives full of His joy and peace abiding in us, no matter our circumstances. This abundance begins with Jesus Christ. As believers maintain an eternal perspective of our lives, we will trust God with our highs as well as our lows. Then, we can truly eat, drink, and be merry. We eat of the Bread of Life Who satisfies and fulfills our deepest hunger. We drink of the Living Water Who refreshes and quenches our every thirst. We are merry for God has given us every good and perfect gift in our lives.
Let’s Talk……What feelings of entitlement are you struggling with today? What is hindering you from a life of gratitude and contentment? How can we pray for you as you surrender feelings of entitlement and discontentment to God?
Terria serves on the LGG encourager and social media teams. She is a single mother of two teenage girls. Her passionate goal is to start a revolution to empower a generation of single women to grab onto God’s truth and cling to it. She loves to talk and loves to listen. She can often be tracked down in noisy hospital hallways listening to people’s stories, and sharing the lessons and love that God has poured out in her life. Despite the chaotic and messy circumstances of Terria’s life, God shows himself strong and loving. The evidence is clear – He loves hard!
Did you miss Monday’s post? View it here.
Please pray I will be content with my job and remember God has placed me here for a reason.
Tricia, I have the same prayer request. Today’s post really convicted my spirit. The spirit of entitlement has really set in with me since I started this job 3 months ago. I accepted a position at a small company, after spending most of my career working in large organizations. The transition has been difficult and at times I think I have made the wrong decision. However, when I evaluate why my reasons it all comes down to missing the perks of a larger company. Like you I believe God brought me there for a reason and I pray for peace and contentment in my current position.
I find myself asking Why? Why God do I have to endure this just to get to you? Why aren’t my prayers being answered? Why are you allowing this? Haven’t its been long enough, God? But, after reading this, I was reminded to be at peace where I am today and pray that God continues to move in my life, at his pace.
Tricia, praying for you sweet friend!
Blessings, Marlene – LGG Encourager
I have often found myself saying “but God I serve you everyday why have you allowed this circumstance in my life”. I know that’s not how it works.
Lacey, it is so hard to see and understand the things we don’t, but try and put your faith and reliance in knowing that He only has wonderful plans for you.
Jeremiah 29:11
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Your post screams at me this morning. My husband lost his job on Friday; he was 2 years away from reaching retirement age. He is dealing with the anger and shame of it. I am dealing with the why God? Thank you for the reminder that God is in control; and I need to put my trust in him. Pray for a peace to come to me at this distressing time.
Florence, I pray that your heart will be at peace knowing that God is in control. I pray that you will be able to sleep at night. He has ordered your steps. I can certainly feel your pain.
I am so sorry, Florence. I have an inkling of what you’re experiencing as my hubby has been on the union’s waiting list for a job for most of the last 7 years. He’s picked up jobs here and there in the interim as best he could. He’s also worked (in the past) for a company who fired to avoid paying benefits. I will pray that God is very near and dear to you both at this time, and that this precious time together will be a special blessing.
I pray you have peace. Hang on. It will get better.
Dear Lord, please surround Florence and her husband in your peace and comfort. We may not always understand your plan, but we know it is for the best for our lives and we praise you and thank you for that.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
thank you to each of you for the kinds words of encouragement. It is truly a comfort and help during this time.
I have never really stopped to consider the power of entitlement and it’s connection to pride. So glad I read this! It has thoughts twirling in my mind this morning!
Terria nailed it on the head today didn’t she? So glad it encouraged and inspired you.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Wonderful insight into these two verses today, Terria. Thank you. I just know I am thankful to be under the Son and not stuck under the sun!
Entitlement=Pride, Wow! I have been in the position of losing my job, currently not liking my boss, and I never realized my “I deserve” is my unmet expectation and that I need to just rely on our Lord. Thank you so much.
I am going to be served court papers today. It is a long story, however I have no fear, because I walk with God every day and I know I have the power of Christ by my side.
Oh wow Dawn! I am in the exact same position today. I know God has a plan and is with us. Praying for you that you may feel God’s strength and love and know that He has placed us in this time and place for His purpose. Praying for you!
I am going through this right now. I want to argue with God and make my point clear. As I remember from Job though, that doesn’t go so well. I am shooting myself in the foot, I know. I just really want to be happy. It doesn’t seem offered up so easily for me. I dont know how to surrender. Pray for that
Dear Lord, please lift Miranda up today as she feels conflicted and troubled. Help her to learn to trust you more and more and to feel your love for her.
Miranda, in my worst days, I have found that counting my blessings and focusing on what is good lifts my spirits and helps me push forward. Hang in there. It will get better.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Oh, how I love your input in today’s read and SOAP, Terria Moore, I need to be in check of my actions for pride can easily creep in ourselves, oh, I am praying that I won’t find myself to be saying, “I deserve”, “I deserve” such a selfish word to say or to be in our mind to think, knowing our mighty God was the ONE that deserves everything, all the glory, praise and honor should only belong to Him. Father God, please forgive for the times when I think of “entitlement” or if this words had creep in my mind, I repent of it, knowing this is some kind of prideful spirit. Thank you when I am being convicted of sins, repentance brings me back to You, “for all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. We are all filthy rags in your sight for there is none righteous, Only You, Father God is the righteousness ONE, You are an infallible God, You never makes mistakes, I thank you for making us your children, in Jesus most Holy name the name above all names, Amen.
Marilyn, we all suffer with pride issues. Such a wonderful prayer you shared with us. Thank you!
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Hi and good morning!! Thank you Terria! I think as my husband and I wait for his recovery from suffering a major concussion last September, I have a mindset of discontentment and entitlement. I didn’t even realize it until I let the Holy Spirit search me and show me. In my mind I’m thinking surely my husband won’t have to return to his original position (medically speaking he shouldn’t) and be should have the opportunity to do full time ministry or own a business. I took this into my heart as though he and I earned this!?! What was I thinking. I love Jesus with all my heart. I stand corrected. Our “positions” are His promotions and His will fit our lives. So if my husband may not get exactly what we hope for, I know better. God’s track record of faithfulness is undeniably faithful! 🙂
Leslie, thank you for sharing what has been revealed to you. That is so true. And while we all know it, we have to learn to really believe it. Your belief gives hope to others. Bless you.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
I mentioned in a comment on a blog post last week that we are struggling with the idea of what we pictured would be our perfect adoption story because we’ve been given the opportunity to pour into the life of a very difficult child who is older than we planned. I admit that I have had many thoughts wondering why God didn’t give me what I wanted, an infant, maybe a toddler. I have to surrender these thoughts daily right now, and I pray daily that, if this child is to become ours forever (this is not yet ours to decide), that we would fall in love with him. Every child deserves a parent who adores him or her.
That said, when I read these verses today and took time to SOAP prior to reading the blog post, I had some very different, initial thoughts. This may be due to the fact that I struggle with allowing myself the opportunity to be still, to stop working and to play. Sometimes, I believe, that scripture says different things to us during different seasons of our lives. Today, I felt like Solomon was advocating in Ecclesiastes 8:15 that we must not only work hard all the time. We need to take breaks. We need to rest, celebrate, and play a little (you’re never too old to play!). “Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.” How true is it that, if we are workaholics (even this stay-at-home, homeschooling mama can be a workaholic sometimes) and never take time to enjoy the important things in our lives, (family, friends, church, recreation), then our work becomes begrudging. The key is to find balance. God wants us to do our work with joy, and taking the time to do other things that we enjoy allows us to better accomplish the work God sets before us each day.
Thank you for your words. As usual, I am blessed by you today!
Thank God. I thought I was never geting this SOAP thing right. I always seem to get differenr thought before I read th blog but then thankfully like a nice puzzle it fits all together so well. God speaks to us through his Word as you say differently through each season of our lives. There are so much to learn from our Lord and so little time to do it too. Thank Lord for you wisdom which so lovingly and freely give to us each day.
Kendra, I got a similar impression from today’s reading. What a shame it would be for us to be so stressed or “focused” on what we think we are here for or what we “need” to do that we miss all of the joys and blessings that surround us. Each moment is a gift and it is easy to forget that and have our eyes on the future rather than the present. I pray that God will continue to bless you and the child you have.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
I didn’t even realize that I have been feeling I’m entitled to a spouse who will love and support me and my sons. I’ve been married for 11 years and dealing with having an alcoholic spouse for at least 9 years. It can be a bit like being a single parent. Please pray that I will keep my eyes on Christ and not covet the things I don’t have.
Wendy, I’m sure God put that desire in your heart for a reason. He is faithful and will provide. Maybe not when or how you expect, but He will. But what a comfort to know that even when we feel “alone” we never are.
Dear Lord, please bless Wendy during this time. I pray you will prepare her heart for whatever lies ahead, but help her to be content in the present.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
I’m struggling with trusting God in my marriage and parenting. My husband was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome a couple of years ago, after our son was diagnosed. I have unmet expectations of being supported emotionally by them. A.S. is a social disorder that doesn’t allow the effected person to “feel” empathy. It makes it extrememly difficult, if not impossible, to experience true connection with them.
I “KNOW” in my head that God has MORE than enough empathy. But sometimes it is so…. hard to have the 2nd most important relationship be more like a roommate than a helpmeet.
Just need lots of prayers.
Kathy, I am so very sorry for this struggle you are facing. I know God has a purpose for it and for YOU, but sometimes it is hard to see that. I pray that God will provide you with the resources you need and that you will have emotional support and that somehow you and your husband can find a way to build your relationship around this.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Kathy,
Praying for God’s overwhelming love for you and that He would also put lots of others around you to be physically there for you. You are loved precious one !!!
Kathy, even though your husband was diagnosed, he is still the same man you married. It is easy to get caught up in “I love him because he does this for me”. We need to cut out the last six words and leave it with “I love him”. No excuses. I’ll be on the journey of cutting out feeling entitled to receiving emotional support with you. It helps knowing why there is a lack of understanding, lack of communication… our husbands are as fearfully and wonderfully made as we are. And even when our husbands lack empathy and can’t quite grasp their mind around their wives, they love us so much and care for us anyway. God has not left anything out. Trust Him; trust him.
I’m sorry, I really don’t know where you got the idea that “Solomon’s heart rings loudly in this passage [with] the cry of entitlement.” It seems to me that he is saying the exact opposite: Solomon has looked around and sees the way things are–that life is NOT fair and does NOT make sense–and that the best way we can respond is to let go of our great expectations, leave them in God’s hands, and savor the little things in life.
I’m awfully sorry if that sounds harsh! I take issue with it because you are accusing Solomon of something I don’t believe he is guilty of. He may indeed have felt entitled in the past, but not here in this passage. Again, I’m sorry.
Emily, the wonderful thing about God’s word is that it can reach each of us differently through the Holy Spirit. And maybe God didn’t mean for us all to interpret it the same way. Maybe His word is to you exactly what it needs to be for YOU. And maybe it is to others what they need. But none of us are the author and we don’t know the “right” answer. I appreciate your feedback.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Your reflections always touch a deep fiber and this one more so than usual, but this passage from today leaves me more broken-hearted and hopeless than ever, I recently lost my job and I have been feeling OK about it and trusting in Gods plans for me and how he knows better, but after today I guess I don’t even know now because I can’t aspire to find a job without being in the wrong or ungrateful, I just don’t understand why is it wrong to want to find a job, and to hope that God will fulfill this need or any other need for that matter.
Natalia, I’m so sorry you are feeling that way. I don’t think God finds it wrong for us to have hopes and dreams. But we shouldn’t be so focused on them and disappointed when we don’t get them that we miss all the blessings he has already provided for us. He will continue to provide, and far above our wildest dreams (even though we don’t see that sometimes). And even when we don’t get what we want, we can be confident that he has a better plan.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
I have a comment about the scripture verse chosen for this week and last week. “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that It will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him.” Ecc 8:12 The scripture goes on to read “But it will not go well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear before God.” The weekly scripture verse seems to conclude this as a fact but Solomon is actually contradicting this statement (which was popular belief)as not being factual. The next verse says, “There is a vanity that takes place on the earth, that their are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked (it doesn’t go well even though they fear God), and their are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous (it does go well for the wicked even though they don’t fear God). I said that this also is vanity.” Solomon’s conclusion is that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Life is unfair and doesn’t play by the rules(just watch evening news). He then comes back to his theory that life is meant to be enjoyed in spite of the unfairness and hardships we suffer. “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.” It really all comes down to our focus in life. Our attitude can become bitter or grateful. Solomon feels we should choose to find joy in theI have a comment about the scripture verse chosen for this week. “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that It will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him.” Ecc 8:12 The scripture goes on to read “But it will not go well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear before God.” The weekly scripture verse seems to conclude this as a fact but Solomon is actually contradicting this statement (which was popular belief)as not being factual. The next verse says, “There is a vanity that takes place on the earth, that their are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked (it doesn’t go well even though they fear God), and their are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous (it does go well for the wicked even though they don’t fear God). I said that this also is vanity.” Solomon’s conclusion is that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Life is unfair and doesn’t play by the rules. He then comes back to his theory that life is meant to be enjoyed in spite of the unfairness and hardships we suffer. “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.” It really all comes down to our focus in life. Our attitude can become bitter or grateful. Solomon feels we should choose to find joy in the blessings God has provided as we go through the hardships of this life due to the injustice of this world’s system.