Ecclesiastes 11:5-6

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
Ecclesiastes 11:5-6

Dear God, I just don’t know anything, and, yet, I tend to think I know so much. I was thinking yesterday about the woman who founded our nonprofit 30 years ago. She didn’t know what would happen after you inspired her. She just knew she was supposed to come home from that Christian conference and get some doctors and nurses to volunteer to give people a free clinic. You grew the seed from there.

I just got word yesterday that a man I know is facing the end of life with a cancer diagnosis. His family is facing it too, obviously. I wish I knew what to do. He is a good man, and he has kept busy. I pray that he will be at peace and he and his family will have the strength to endure the next few weeks. I pray that you will use this pain to touch them and reveal yourself to them in a new way. And use it in the lives of others as well. Please don’t let it be wasted. And please help him to not suffer. And for their daughter as well. She is a special needs young woman and I don’t know if that will make this harder or easier for her, but I pray that you will walk with her.

Father, show me the work you have for me to do today. Help me to keep busy under your guidance and leadership. Bless the work I do so that it might multiply for your glory.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

¹For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Dear God, Ukraine is still on my heart this morning. I checked the news when I woke up to see if there was any word on the talks between its president and Russia happening today. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be any of the participants. I even get the feeling that those on the Russian side don’t want to be there or doing this. Their hearts aren’t totally in this. That could just be our own media’s propaganda influencing my opinion, and maybe it’s totally wrong. I only know what I’m told.

I do think it is safe to say, however, that the Europeans decided that, much to their dismay, this is not a time for peace. If they appease like the European nations did years ago, they will find themselves backed into a corner by a vicious man who has no qualms about what time it is. I don’t think he ever thinks it is a time for peace.

In my own life, this passage means something too. There are broken relationships in my life. I’m doing my best to know when it is time to embrace and when it is time to turn away. I am always longing for embrace, but I cannot do it at any cost. Like the European countries right now, lines do eventually have to be drawn. I hate it. I know they hate it. I just hope this time doesn’t last too much longer. I know they do too.

Father, thank you for Solomon’s words here. Thank you that The Byrds elevated these words into our society’s collective conscience so that I even thought of it this morning as I wrestled with my thoughts about both Ukraine and my own life. Guide me in your wisdom and mercy. Bring about the embracing as soon as you can.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

5 “Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”

6 And yet,

“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

Dear God, this kind of follows up on yesterday’s prayer. I heard it in an Andy Stanley sermon I listened to while I was on a bike ride last night. I wonder at what point Solomon emerged from this wisdom of pitying the oppressed and into being an oppressor. I was watching an interview with a movie star this morning and she mentioned that she had won her first major award at 26. She was young and pretty. But then, as she put it, people started to “remove obstacles” from her and she began to take advantage of being a star. Her father sat down with her at one point and told her, you’re becoming an ***hole. She said that she is now a believer in all of our need to have obstacles in front of us. It seems to me that she might be right in that the removal of obstacles from Solomon’s life became a detriment to the wisest man who ever lived.

All of that being said, there is a great message in these verses. When my drive for success is motivated by jealousy of and competition with others, then I will absolutely be chasing the wind. As Andy Stanley put it in the sermon, someone will always have an “er” over me. They will be smart-er, cut-er, rich-er, happi-er. They will have more successful children, better jobs, prettier homes, more fulfilling marriages, or whatever. I can’t chase them all. Better to focus on you and your call to me while ignoring all others. Following your call is the best way to find my contentment. Chasing the perceived success of someone else will only lead to exhaustion and emptiness.

Father, help me to be peacefully quiet. Help me to embrace all that you have for me today. Help me to bless others for their success and to care more about their peace and contentment than I do what they have that I don’t have. Help me to be an instrument of your peace in their lives.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Ecclesiastes 11:5

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

Dear God, I admit to you that I don’t understand what you’re doing at any given time. And I don’t know as much about even myself as you know. But to my credit, I think I’m getting more comfortable with that. You’re slowly teaching me to lean into my ignorance and accept your unseen path.

I’m thinking this morning about a funeral for a young woman who died suddenly last week. I saw her parents last Sunday, four days after it happened. Oh, it was heartbreaking. I cannot imagine their pain. I don’t know how they could update possibly make sense of anything in their lives right now. They heard me preach on Sunday and as I spoke I measured every word against how they must be hearing it, but I can’t imagine they will even remember that much from Sunday except that they were with their fellow church members.

Father, we’ve actually lost several young people lately. One from a health issue, one from suicide, and two others from a car accident. There’s no way to explain or justify any of it. And then there are the things in my own path that I just don’t understand. Help me to find my way to you and then guide me in each moment so that I might find the correct things to do that will maximize my effectiveness for you and experience your presence.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen