Hi Church Family,
You have seen the bumper sticker that says, “Life is uncertain: eat dessert first.” How about “Life is uncertain: embrace it.”
It is no secret that one of my favorite books of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. You can draw your own conclusions as to what that says about me, but I want to share some thoughts from Ecclesiastes chapter 11. In chapter 11, we see the phrase, “You do not know,” 3 times in the first 6 verses.
End of verse 2 says, “You do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” Verse 5, “You do not know the path of the wind.” And then in the middle of verse 6, “You do not know which will succeed.”
In other words, so much about life is uncertain. The writer of Ecclesiastes takes some ordinary examples from everyday life of merchants and farmers to make his point that if you wait for all the information to come in before doing anything, you will never do anything. If we wait for ideal conditions or for all our questions to be answered or for everything to fall into place before we do anything we will do nothing. As one person put it, “Life is a mystery to be lived out rather than a problem to be solved.”
Are you paralyzed by uncertainty? Are you stuck in over analysis? Are you overwhelmed by things you don’t understand? Do you sense that God would have you launch out in a new direction, but you are perplexed by the details? Listen, you do not know how it will all come together. You do not know the twists and turns of life. Face it; embrace it, you do not know. Don’t let it intimidate you, but rather embrace the uncertainties of life and keep moving.
Some people spend their days observing the obvious and noting the inevitable. There are some things we cannot change. We can’t change the weather, taxes, the final scores of games, people’s responses, passing of time, and so on.
Earlier in the same chapter, Solomon says, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
Life with God is an adventure. If we wait until we have absolutely perfect conditions, we are like the one waiting on the wind. What are we doing sitting around watching the wind? Do something. Get on with life. Why be preoccupied with whether the clouds bring rain, or it is sunny? Pursue this thing they call life. Life is passing by. We don’t get a second chance at this.
In what way are you waiting on the wind? Have you put your life on hold until things improve? Is it true that if you leave things alone, you leave them as they are? No! As G.K. Chesterton put it, “A white fence post left to itself will soon be a black fence post.” Each day we are faced with a decision to stay the same or to change.
There are many things we do not know- those are the uncertainties of life we must embrace.
But we do know the One who harnesses the wind, who dispenses the rain, who hand-forms the baby in the womb- He is the One who is in control. So go about our business leaving the results with God.
Blessings, Pastor Brian
An Evangelical Free Church