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How Should a Christian Deal with an Uncertain Future and Growing Old?
Life is full of unexpected contingencies. Still, Solomon says we can live boldly even though life is unpredictable. We should be poised when hard times come. How do you live boldly in spite of all these worries? Solomon tells us how in chapter 11 of Ecclesiastes:
Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. (vv. 1-2)
The “cast your bread” line, though it sounds odd today, was already an old saying in Solomon’s day. It refers to doing business in grain by putting it on a ship and having it set sail to be traded—casting it on the waters. You harvest your crop, send it off and sell it, and then receive back a dividend (hopefully).
Instead of putting your grain in a boat and sending it off, you could keep it and make bread. That would be a safe bet since you would retain control of your grain and your bread. But that’s all you would have.
Solomon is saying to live boldly and let the chips fall where they may. “Damn the torpedoes…full speed ahead!” Live fearlessly in a life you can’t always control. If you live scared, you won’t have a life. You can’t play to win by playing not to lose. Cast your bread upon the waters.
If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. (vv. 3-4)
Sometimes it rains on your fields; sometimes it doesn’t. A tree may fall south and be on your property, or it might go north and be on your neighbor’s.
If you spend your time trying to outguess God, you’re wasting your time. Life will never give you a perfect set of circumstances.
Life is a gamble, so get married, get a job, have kids—even though all of those choices come with risks. Live!
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (v. 5)
Jesus paraphrased this verse when He was talking to Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Life is unpredictable and mysterious, just like the wind.
Too many Christians freeze because they don’t know what God wants them to do. They suffer from a paralayis of analysis.
There is a difference between right or wrong decisions and right or left decisions. In the Bible, the will of God always refers to moral choices—decisions where one path leads to sin and the other to righteousness. For these right or wrong decisions, we can know the will of God. It’s found in the Bible. We need to pray and pursue the path of righteousness.
For right or left decisions, God is under no obligation to reveal His plan to us. More than likely, He will not. That’s why in Ecclesiastes Solomon says you just have to be bold and act.
Instead of withdrawing, let the uncertainties of life make you more faithful.
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. (v. 6)
You’re going to get old and decrepit and you’re going to die. You can be assured of that. In light of this fact, Solomon gives us some advice.
Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. (vv. 7-9)
God wants you to enjoy life. When enjoying life, have parameters so your joy doesn’t become youthful lust. We don’t always have to turn everything into a mystical decision. If you love God, do what you want to do. God will control things in His sovereignty.
God knows the only way truly to enjoy life is to live by wisdom. You can’t enjoy life outside of the context of holiness. Ultimately, sinful people can’t have fun. Life bites you.
So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. (v. 10)
Quit being a worrywart. You can’t enjoy life if you’re always scared. Live large, go for it, and have fun within the context of business.
Solomon says to put pain away from your body. At the outset of chapter 12, he also says to remember God.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain. (vv. 1-2)
Solomon reiterates the point he has made six other times. We should enjoy life with wisdom.
Start well as a kid like Timothy or John the Baptist—filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb!
When the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. (vv. 3-5)
Your hands are the watchmen. Some day your watchmen are going to shake with the involuntary tremors of old age.
What happens when you get old? You get grouchy. If you are not careful, you will just get crabby.
Solomon warns us in verse 5 that you will get tentative and afraid. When you get old and fall down, you don’t bounce back so quickly. You can become afraid to go out. So many physically overwhelming things can happen to you.
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well. (v. 6)
All of the items mentioned in verse 6 are associated with a well. Throughout Scripture, a well is a metaphor for life. But this well is no longer being used for drawing water. Someday your body is going to wear out. You will be nothing but a dry shell of your former self.
Then the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!” (vv. 7-8)
Solomon closes by saying that life without wisdom is vanity. If you think you can stop the aging process, if you think you can be a fool and enjoy life, if you think there is any hope for happiness apart from God, Solomon says you are a fool.
One day, when the curtain closes on the final act, judgment will come. Enjoy life now, live with wisdom, and honor God with every breath you take.
Commit this week to not live life terrified or regretful. Enjoy a purposeful life. Make a goal to do something you’ve put off for some reason and start it this week.