Chasing Wind or Carried by It

Catherine Guillaume-Sackey
17 hours ago
5 min read

A Devotional Reflection on Solomon, Wisdom, and the Spirit

Catherine (🇭🇹Guillaume🇭🇹) Sackey, MPAP

June 8, 2025

Introduction: The Struggle of Leadership—Even When You're Anointed

There’s a part of Solomon’s story we rarely sit with long enough—the part where all his wisdom turns heavy. He was known for insight, influence, and impact. He built the Temple and made Jerusalem a center of wealth and worship. But near the end, he sounds like a leader who’s seen too much and no longer sees clearly. This is a reminder of the crucial need for spiritual guidance in our leadership journey.

“I applied my mind to investigate and to explore by wisdom all that happens under heaven… I realized that everything is pointless, a chasing after wind.” —Ecclesiastes 1:13–14

That phrase “chasing after wind” hit differently for me as a leader. In Scripture, wind is how God shows up—hovering in Genesis, parting seas in Exodus, and rushing in at Pentecost.

So maybe Solomon wasn’t chasing God’s wind. Maybe he was chasing his own ambition, validation, and ideas of success.

And maybe we do too.

1. When You Have Vision, But You’ve Lost the Fruit

“In much wisdom is much aggravation; the more knowledge, the more pain.” —Ecclesiastes 1:18

Let’s be real—leading with wisdom but without the fruit of the Spirit will break you.

You can have discernment but no peace. Strategy but no joy. Respect but no rest.

That’s not leadership—that’s survival.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…” —Galatians 5:22–23

Without the Spirit guiding it, wisdom turns into weight. It becomes about holding everything together alone. And that’s never what God asked you to do.

2. What Kind of Wind Are You Chasing?

Solomon chased meaning, productivity, and pleasure. But in the Bible, the most powerful wind moments were never manufactured.

Genesis 1:2 – The Spirit hovered like wind. Exodus 14:21 – Wind parted the Red Sea. Acts 2:2 – Pentecost came with rushing wind

No one had to create that wind. They just had to be in position when it came.

Leaders often feel the pressure to stir up movement and generate momentum. But what if you’re chasing what only God can give?

Some winds come from burnout. Some come from heaven.

Know the difference.

3. When Distraction Becomes a Leadership Strategy: The Importance of Staying Focused

Solomon admits:

“Come now, I will test you with pleasure… but that also proved to be meaningless.” —Ecclesiastes 2:1

He filled his world with grand projects, music, gardens, and wealth. And still felt empty.

Distraction didn’t start with screens—it started with kings who had too much access and not enough accountability.

As leaders, we often mask our fatigue with busyness. We build, plan, fund, and solve, but we don’t sit still long enough to be searched by God.

Leadership isn’t about staying constantly “on.” It’s about staying connected to the One who breathes life into your work.

4. Idolatry Doesn’t Start Loud—It Starts Small

We know Solomon fell. But it didn’t begin with idols—it began with misplaced affections.

“Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians…” —1 Kings 11:5

He let pleasure have a seat at the table. Then it demanded more. Until Molech came, and with him, sacrifice.

Ashtoreth: pleasure and sensuality
Chemosh: pride and conquest
Molech: control, even death

As leaders, we don’t usually wake up in idolatry. We inch toward it. It begins when comfort becomes more important than conviction.

5. Even Wandering Leaders Are Watched by God

“God has made everything fitting in its time… and God looks after what is driven away.” —Ecclesiastes 3:11, 15

Even in his disillusionment, Solomon could admit—God still sees.

As leaders, we feel pressure to be okay even when we’re unraveling. But God doesn’t just see your success. He sees your surrender.

“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” —Luke 19:10

You’re not leading unnoticed. And you don’t have to lead alone.

6. Leading Without the Spirit Will Always Lead to Burnout

According to Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon swings between bitterness and hollow optimism.

“Enjoy life with your spouse… all the days of your meaningless life…” —Ecclesiastes 9:9

It’s like he’s trying to coach himself into joy, without the foundation to hold it.

That’s what leadership looks like when it’s driven by knowledge but not guided by Spirit.

James 3:17 reminds us that wisdom from God is pure, peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy.

That’s what Spirit-led leadership looks like. And that’s the kind of leadership that lasts.

7. Ecclesiastes Is a Leadership Mirror, Not a Manual

We love to quote Ecclesiastes 3 at funerals or retreats:

“There’s a time for everything…”

But we rarely sit with the why behind that tone. This book isn’t a leadership guide—it’s a warning. A reflection. A reckoning.

It’s what it looks like when a gifted leader builds the world and loses himself.

Let Ecclesiastes help you ask hard questions:

What am I chasing?
What’s costing me peace?
Am I leading for God or leading for approval?

8. When It’s Time to Recalibrate—Return to the Psalms

Solomon gained knowledge. David kept his heart for God.

Psalm 119 is what recalibrated leadership sounds like:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet.” —Psalm 119:105

“Search me, O God… and lead me…” —Psalm 139:23–24

If Ecclesiastes is a lament for the drift, Psalms is the song of return.

Let your recalibration begin in worship, not a whiteboard session. You don’t have to strategize your way back to intimacy.

9. Pentecost: The Wind That Carried Leadership Forward

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house…” —Acts 2:2

This was the wind Solomon never knew.

He chased the wind and felt empty. The disciples waited—and were filled.

Jesus breathed on them in John 20:22, but Pentecost brought permanence.

The Spirit didn’t just rest on them. He indwelled them.

That’s the difference. That’s where leadership shifts from draining to divine.

10. Final Word: Lead Carried, Not Crushed

You weren’t designed to carry leadership in your own strength. You were meant to lead, carried by the Spirit. The Spirit is not just a companion in your leadership journey, but the guide, the source of wisdom, and the sustainer of your spirit.

Let this be the recalibration:

Let the Word guide your strategy.
Let the Spirit lead your rhythm.
Let rest be your weapon, not your reward.
Let Pentecost live in you.

“You were never meant to chase the wind. You were meant to walk with it.”

And by God’s grace, you still can.