JUN 9

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
Memorise Proverbs 19:21
“but time and chance happeneth to them all”

Solomon ended the previous segment with an exhortation that we must do our best in all the tasks and labours that have been set before us. In this next segment, he gives us a disclaimer, a qualifier of sorts to that previous statement. He tells us that even though we do our best in everything that we do, we must never expect results from it. That is not the motivation as to why we work hard. Solomon is warning us, that we are never to assume that all things will happen the way we expect it to, just because we put effort into it. Our sense of justice and right and wrong would lead us to assume that the swift will always win the race, or that the strong will always win the battle, or that the wise will be able to earn riches, or gifted man be exalted. This is generally what happens in life. However, there are times when the opposite is true. Somehow the untalented, lazy and foolish are the ones who succeed. When such things happen, the unbeliever, the one who does not acknowledge the existence of God, will put it down to factors they call luck, fortune, coincidence, opportunity etc. But we know that in all things, God is in control. God is the one who ordains a time to every purpose under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and He is the one who decrees all things. The reason why we work hard is simply then for obedience and testimony’s sake. In submitting to the will of God, we also realise that life will not always go the way we expect it to. We can labour all we can, as our human responsibility, but we can never expect what will happen on the morrow, but rest in the comforts of God’s providence.

In verse 12, another few scenarios are further presented, to reinforce the idea that God also is the one who controls man’s time, and he himself knows nothing of it. He goes through life not knowing what will happen next, and when his time will come. In our youth, we feel we have this aura of ‘indestructability’, that death is something very far removed from us. However we know that our lives are in the hands of God, and any moment He can chose to take it away from us. And so Solomon describes the frailty and uncertainty of life through these analogies: Just as a fish is suddenly caught in a net, or a bird in a snare, so will men suddenly be caught unawares, and life might take a sudden turn in a direction we never expect it to. Again, this is a lesson for us to submit and trust in the will of God for our lives, for He is the only one in control.

Thought: In life and in death, God is always in control.
Prayer: Lord, grant me the faith to always accept Your will in all things.