This Week's Article
“Destination Illness”
By Colly Caldwell
“I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this bur-densome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 1:13-14).
Some time back I learned a term that was new to me: “destination illness.” It is used in sociological and psychological circles to refer to one’s having a goal, a destination in life, but when arriving there he/she is not satisfied. For example, a businessman may want to become a millionaire. But when he has a million dollars, he wants more. “Enough is never enough!”
One with this ailment is always looking for something more. The sickness involves pursuing one dream after another, but never being fulfilled even when success-fully arriving at the destination. The symptoms of this illness are dissatisfaction and discontentment.
The illness is having what you want, no longer wanting what you have, and feeling sick, empty, lonely, and miserable because you want something else.
Jesus told the story of a wealthy landowner whose farming was very productive. “What shall I do,” he asked. His decision: “pull down my barns and build greater.” Jesus warning was, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses” (Luke 12:15). This man would never be satisfied and Jesus knew it. In that same chapter Jesus said, “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys” (v. 33).
Actually, this “destination illness” is not a novel phenomenon or even a recent discovery. After all, Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (1:9). This is what the author of Ecclesiastes found three-thousand years ago to be inevitable whenever one is focused on the temporal, material world in which we live. He searched in his labor, in his relationships, and in his possessions but he always found his journey to end in futility and frustration. “Destination illness” is the result. It is vain, like trying to catch the wind, he said.
Sir William Beach Thomas was a British war corres-pondent during World War I. His father was a clergy-man with strong moral values that he imparted to his son. After the war, Sir William wrote for the Daily Mail newspaper. He once said, “To achieve happiness by a succession of pleasures is like trying to keep up the light all night by striking successive matches.” His point was that happiness does not come from pleasure but from purpose. Solomon found that to be true.
The lesson Solomon brings to us when we read his Proverbs and study Ecclesiastes is that there is never enough gold and silver, satisfaction in one’s profession, pleasure in physical relationships, or wine and narcotics to satisfy one afflicted with this disease. The answer is not in someTHING! The answer is someONE! Listen to “the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Eccl. 12:13).
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21). The issue is not just that the things of earth decay. God’s issue is our hearts. God can look at your bank account, your credit card expenditures, your conversa-tions with your friends, your hobbies, your FaceBook page, your plans, your dreams and know exactly where your heart is.
After her career in tennis and a wrenching divorce, Chris Evert explained in an interview, “My husband and I would often sit at breakfast with everything we had and say, ‘There must be something more.’” How sad. Well, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
The cure for this illness is Jesus Christ. If you try to find happiness without reaching into the inner part of your being and by faith being made alive in heart, you will only latch on to vanity and a striving after the wind. You will not overcome spiritual illness by reaching for the right house, car, clothes, career, pleasures, or even relationships. You will only find spiritual happiness and peace in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.