#soap # Ecclesiastes 08 ## Title: Painful, Focused Perspective ## Scripture: (Ecclesiastes 1:11) “No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.” (NET) ## Observation: Two things are happening here. First, Solomon is being brutally honest. He is saying that we should think about all the people who have lived before us. There have been billions and billions of people who have lived and we only know a handful of them. Millions of people have written books and we have only read a handful of them. There are millions of people online right now trying to get everyone’s attention and we only see a small portion of them. Most people will pass through this life and never get the world’s attention. That is painful because everyone wants to matter and be noticed by someone. Solomon is saying our focus should not be to have the world notice us because that is likely not going to happen. BUT, our God does see us and notice us. Therefore, realize you are fully seen by the One who matters most. This does not mean we shouldn’t work hard to be kind to others, have friends, and develop relationships with those close to us. It means that we should realize that we don’t have to be seen on the world stage. We need to realize we are already seen by the One who matters most. ## Application: Focus on the One who DOES see us. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for seeing us.