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One of the things Pastor Nelson loves about the three-thousand-year-old Book of Ecclesiastes is that it does not pretend that life is always nice or fair.
In chapters 6 through 8 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon gives us perspective as believers. He tells us that good times don’t always make us happy and that suffering makes us grow. He tells us to watch our attitude in hard times because we’re not all wise and we don’t know what is best for us. We have to keep walking by faith and remain poised.
Navigating Life’s Winding Road
If God Is in Control, Why Does Life Seem To Be So Random?
In chapter 9, Solomon continues giving us advice about how to make it in this world.
All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. – Ecclesiastes 9:2-3
The righteous and the unrighteous, the moral and the immoral, the goody-two-shoes and the low-down, no-good, egg-sucking dog—they all die. Every last one of them will end up in a box.
Some will die late, some early. But it’s the same for both.
In one Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, Calvin says to Hobbes, “Do you think babies are born into the world as sinners?” Hobbes replies, “No, I think they’re just quick studies.”
Solomon says the craziness of life makes evil men more evil.
How do we live in this world and still believe in a sovereign God?
The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:4-6
This is a crazy, fallen world, but Solomon is saying don’t give up hope and give in to despair. Just because life is vanity does not mean it is hopeless.
In verse 7, Solomon gives us three key insights: (1) Eat your food happily; (2) Drink your wine with a cheerful heart; and (3) God has already approved your works.
Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:8-9
If you were going to a feast in Solomon’s time, you would wear white clothes and anoint your head with oil. In verse 8, Solomon says, “Go to a party.” Solomon is saying to enjoy life as much as you can.
Enjoy your life right now. Spend some time with good friends. You don’t know what tomorrow holds.
Right now, God will take care of you. And God approves of your enjoying life.
Too often, Christians today equate fun with sin and misery with righteousness.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.– Ecclesiastes 9:10
When you die, your chance is over, there is no reincarnation, you don’t get to come back, it’s a done deal. Solomon says this is your only chance on this planet, so do what you do well. Not the progression in these verses: activity, planning, and wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to see. Planning is the ability to organize. Activity is the ability to initiate, persevere, and accomplish goals.
Men and women are made to envision, to plan, and to do. God told Adam to enjoy life and cultivate the garden—He gave him work to do (and this is before the Fall). Solomon says that work is one of the areas that we can enjoy.
Paul emphasized this when he said:
Work hard, be loyal, and do a good job.
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. – Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
God will rudely interrupt your life at very inconvenient times. His timing may be perfect for Him, but it often doesn’t seem perfect to us. He has a way of making mincemeat of our plans.
Pastor Nelson encourages this exercise, “Take out a sheet of paper and date it. Now, write down all the major things you believe are going to happen in the next year—the projects, trips, goals, events, and so on. Now save the paper for a year, then reread it and see how many of those things actually happened.”
It’s a wonderful plan; just don’t love your plan more than you love God. Only one thing is certain about a plan; it won’t work exactly like you expected it to. Do right and be wise but be ready to flex.
I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. – Ecclesiastes 9:13-16
If you do have wisdom, don’t think anyone will notice. The poor man who delivered his city was forgotten. How unjust! How unfair! In this world, you will never receive the recognition and appreciation you deserve.
Pastors often can get dis-couraged. They put in “2 + 2 + 2 + 2” but it feels like their return is “5”; and they lose courage.
As former University of Texas Quarterback Bobby Lane said, “(Make sure) you run out of money and out of air at the same time.” Or, as one of Pastor Tommy Nelson’s church member’s put it, “Make sure your last check bounces!”
The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. – Ecclesiastes 9:17-18
Even if you are wise, most people won’t care. If you commit yourself to walking with God and serving Him, God will be pleased and you will have great joy. But a lot of people will think you are missing out on life. That’s the way it is.
In Psalm 73, the writer says that when he worshiped God, he understood that the wicked who were succeeding now were going to lose in the end.
Sometimes you just need to draw closer. We try so hard to keep up with this supersonic world: late nights at the office, taxi cab for the kids, countless church activities. When we spend all of ur time with the urgent, we miss the necessary. Take an afternoon or a morning this week and draw close to God. Grab your Bible and journal and get away from any possible distractions, and make God your urgency.
Revere God, learn His Word, and obey Him in a holy enjoyable life.