Living With the Unexplainable and Unexpected

The Eliminator is going to lie to you. You wouldn't learn how to walk. You wouldn't learn how to drive a car.

You wouldn't get married. Solomon is essentially saying, don't sit around and watch the clouds. In other words, don't wait for the perfect conditions in life before taking a well-thought-through step.

By the way, again, that goes for ministry. You might take that class or teach that study or step out. It's uncomfortable for you. Well, if you're waiting for the perfect conditions, you'll never take that next step of faith. Have you ever been hesitant to proceed because you were waiting for the conditions to be absolutely perfect?

Perhaps you were uncomfortable because there was a little bit of uncertainty, so you hesitated or maybe didn't act at all. I wonder how much we miss out on because of this. There are many things in life that we can't predict, but we shouldn't let the unexpected events of life paralyze us with fear. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Stephen Davey is working through a series from Ecclesiastes called Pursuing Wisdom Under the Sun. Today we'll be challenged to live boldly with this message called Living with the Unexplainable and Unexpected. I want to cover the first eight verses of chapter 11 in our study today. Now, if you're new to our study through this journal of Solomon, he has written about life down here under the sun, and he began the first seven chapters with this sort of despairing perspective of, if this is all you see, and you never look above the sun, it's going to be unfulfilling, it's not going to be satisfying. Then he shifts near about the three-quarter mark in his journal, and he draws God into the picture, and he's giving us this new perspective about life down here under the sun as we walk with the sun, as it were, the Son of God. Now, this new perspective of life as he's delivering it in this journal, which he assumes his son will read, most Old Testament scholars believe it's for his son as well. Solomon tells us that even drawing God into the picture doesn't answer all your questions.

It doesn't button everything down. And here in chapter 11, he's going to begin that way, he's going to admit there are things in life he doesn't understand. In fact, he repeats a phrase four times in the opening verses here. If you have a Bible open, you might draw a circle around the phrase in verse 2, for you know not, you don't know. You could draw a line, as I've done, to the first part of verse 5 where it appears again, you do not know. And then again at the bottom of the verse, the latter part of verse 5, you do not know. And then once again in verse 6, you do not know. So four times he's going to tell us there are things we do not know in our lives.

We haven't figured them out. But instead of ending the discussion by saying, well, because we don't know everything, let's go ahead and throw in a towel and quit and just kind of cry in our soup. What he's going to do though is lead us to the conclusion, let's roll up our sleeves and rejoice. And we'll get there eventually in our study today.

It's possible to go through life then without having everything figured out and at the same time have joy. Now, for our study, let me divide these eight verses into two categories. We'll call the first category the unexpected events of life. Solomon's going to encourage us to not let them paralyze us with fear. Look at verse 1. Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven or even eight, that's a Hebrew euphemism for an indefinite amount, an indefinite number, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. Let me paraphrase this to read, you can't begin to anticipate all of the unpredictable, unexpected events in life. The phrase, and you've heard it before, cast your bread upon the waters. That means just do the right thing, you don't know what's going to happen. In fact, I had somebody who was talking to me just a few weeks ago, not referencing our study in Ecclesiastes, who said, you know, I like to think in life this way, cast your bread upon the waters and then get ready to make sandwiches.

You never know when it's going to come back. I thought that was very interesting. So stay at it. Now this expression here, cast your bread upon the waters, for you'll find it, give a portion to seven or eight, is broad enough to incorporate a number of contexts, and frankly Old Testament scholars don't know which context specifically Solomon has in mind, although they all point to the same principle of sowing and reaping. It's possible, some have suggested, that Solomon is thinking of financial investments. Seems to make sense, certainly.

Verse two, give a portion to seven or eight. In other words, diversify your investments. In other words, don't put all your eggs into one basket.

There it is. It's wise advice. He might have been, others suggest, referring to his fleet of ships. You can read about it in the Kings and Chronicles about how his ships would go out carrying grain and come back with all sorts of merchandise. He's essentially saying, don't put all of it on one ship. It'd be better to put your cargo into seven or eight so that if some disaster will fall, some storm rises, everything won't be lost.

You can't predict the results of your investments. So plan, and then leave it to God. And we'll get there in a moment as Solomon spells it out that we trust God with the results. I love the way Hudson Taylor, missionary statesman in China, would say it. He would say it this way, look after things, that is plan, look after things, and then the responsibility rests with God.

It's good. Don't allow the unexpected events of life to paralyze you with fear. Now, Solomon changes the illustration from the world of the merchant to the world of the farmer. He says here, you'll notice in verse 3, if the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth.

If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. The point that Solomon is making is that no one can control when the rain's going to fall. Looks like the clouds are coming in. Usually those rain when they come in like it's doing today, but maybe not. Maybe they'll blow over and drop their rain somewhere else. We don't know when that tree's going to fall and in what direction, so should we plant trees?

I don't know, they could fall. The point he's making is we can't predict the unpredictable. Notice verse 4, he observes the wind will not sow. In other words, if you're watching a wind, you'll never sow that seed. And he who regards the clouds will not reap. The wind might spring up, blow away the seed you've just thrown out on your field. Or maybe those clouds will trick you and you'll end up harvesting prematurely or maybe you'll miss the peak of harvest.

You're essentially just watching the wind and the clouds. Solomon is describing here a person who's become so paralyzed by fear because they can't guarantee success. They're sitting around and they're waiting for the ideal circumstances. They're waiting for life to smooth out. They're waiting for the perfect circumstances to all line up before they take that step forward. Opportunity is knocking on the door, so to speak, but they're not going to answer it because bad things might happen. Bad things might.

So what's Solomon saying here? Don't get out of bed, don't plant trees, don't sow seed, don't send out chips, don't invest. No, plan and then do it. It's impossible to eliminate all the risks in life, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You know, if you waited for all the risks to be gone, you would have never learned how to ride a bike. You know, this past month, two of our grandchildren sent Papa and Gigi a video because they learned how to ride a bike.

How many times do they fall? Yeah, you can eliminate the risks. I mean, if you eliminate the risks in life, you wouldn't learn how to walk. You'd try, fall down, well that does that. You wouldn't learn how to drive a car. You wouldn't get married.

You wouldn't have a child. You wouldn't start a business or a ministry. Solomon is essentially saying don't sit around and watch the clouds. In other words, don't wait for the perfect conditions in life before taking a well-thought-through step that next step in life. And by the way, again, that goes for ministry. You might take that class or teach that study or step out.

It's uncomfortable for you and should you do it? Well, if you're waiting for the perfect conditions in life, you'll never take that next step of faith in life. I like Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of this text.

It interprets it well. He says it this way. Don't sit there watching the wind.

Do your own work. Don't stare at the clouds. Get on with your life. Plan and then leave God the responsibility of the result. The second category of his inspired advice here we'll call the unexplainable works of God.

And his key point is basically this. Don't let these unexplainable works of God rob you of joy. Notice verse five. And you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child.

So you do not know the work of God who makes everything. The word for bones here is used in other passages for the embryo. The developing life which God is knitting, weaving, David says, together in the womb. You don't know what's going on in the womb. Now we've come a long way since Solomon, certainly, in understanding a lot of what takes place in the womb. I can remember, we've got to go back a few decades now, but I can remember going in with Marcia and having that ultrasound. And for us that meant a piece of paper and it was all black with some white fuzzy dots on it. And we took their word that was a baby, but you really couldn't make it out. And now, though, oh, my goodness, 3D, you know, digital. You can tell everything about that baby.

It's amazing. I would have loved to have had a 3D ultrasound, digital ultrasound, when we went in that one afternoon for that ultrasound and the nurse looks at Marcia and says, well, what do you know? There are two of them in there. And Marcia began to cry and I began to laugh, which is what we do when we're really nervous.

That's how we respond. As advanced as we are today, we still don't know. And Solomon says we don't know how that invisible, immaterial work of God's hand imparts life.

You could render it this way. You do not know how the life spirit comes to the embryo in the womb of a woman. In other words, we still can't explain how God imparts to that fertilized egg the animating essence of life. We don't know any more than Solomon, apart from the hand of God, in creating immortal life.

And here's the point I think Solomon's making. He's saying, listen, you want to talk about how much knowledge you have? You want to talk about how much you figured out in life? Well, let's just go back to the womb. In a sense, from the womb to the tomb, we would call it, our lives are filled with the mysteries of God's hand. We just can't explain everything that God does from the womb to the tomb. Don't let that fact, however, that some things are unexplainable rob you of trust in him.

If it robs you of trust in him, it robs you of joy in him and in life. Solomon goes on to illustrate this in your job or your work, verse 6. Notice there, in the morning, sow your seed. Roll up your sleeves and get going. And at the evening, withhold not your hand.

That's a euphemism in the Hebrew language for you're working all day long. Go for it. You do not know. You do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Wouldn't that be great if both of those ventures turned a profit? You don't know if God will prosper your work this year. There's not a farmer on the planet that knows if it's going to be a good crop. Plan well. You don't know if the herd will multiply, as you would hope, but you do everything you can. But you plant your field.

You go after that work with excellence wherever God has placed you. And there's more to this. He's drawing us into essentially enjoying the opportunity to work and to invest. So get to it.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you need to do today. Can we explain everything that's happening? No.

Can we predict what will happen in life? No. But did a new day dawn?

Yes. Enjoy it. This is where Solomon is leading us. Look at verse 7. Light is sweet. Light referring to a new day, the dawning of a day. It's sweet. It's pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. In other words, are you going to enjoy the fact that you get to experience yet another day?

Now, he's realistic, as we'll see in a moment. It isn't a plastic smile, and it isn't, oh, everything's going to be great today. No, but it is a new day. It's a new day. This is the day, say with me, the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it. That word sweet, by the way. Light is sweet.

A new day is sweet. That word appears often in the Old Testament. It appears in describing the taste of honey in Judges 14. It's used to describe the thrill of a kiss in the Song of Solomon, chapter 2. It's used to describe the nourishing, satisfying enjoyment of God's word. It's like honey, Psalm 19. So enjoy what you can in light. Notice what he says next in verse 8. So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

That word vanity is expansive. In this case, it means it's fleeting. Those days are flying by, flying by. And in your fast life, you look back over your shoulder and what do you see? Days of darkness, days of difficulty, days of trial and suffering and sorrow. It's evidently okay to remember them because Solomon says, remember them. Remember them and learn from them.

Trust God through them. But he also asks in verse 8, what else do you see? Well, days, events, moments, conversations, relationships, accomplishments, over which you can rejoice. Solomon is saying, enjoy the rising of the sun and another day you get to live, savor it, share it, make the most of it, which is another way of saying opportunity is knocking. That is, a new day is knocking.

Go answer the door. The apostle Paul says it this way in the New Testament, making the best use of time because the days are evil. Ephesians 5 16, he doesn't say make the best use of time before the days get evil or after the days are no longer evil. No, make the best use of time in spite of the fact that they can be dark and difficult and evil can surround us.

Stay at it, do the right thing, roll up your sleeves, plan and go answer the door. It is tempting and we all wrestle with this if what we're doing matters. We pray for a friend or a family member and wonder if the prayer will be answered in the way we pray it. We give money to the Lord's work, to the poor, to those in need and wonder if anybody's life is going to be changed. We witness to friends and classmates and co-workers and wonder at times when no one seems to believe and be saved.

We could go back to the opening statement which sets the scene for this passage. Keep casting the seed and I like to think of it in the analogy of the bread of life. Keep doing it. Keep doing the right thing in that world and in the traffic patterns where God has placed you. Keep casting, keep serving, keep walking with Christ and you never know what God will do. I'm currently reading a book given to me by one of the men in our church. He serves with Gideon's International. Amazing ministry I've gotten to know in the last few years. Privileged to speak to the men in North Carolina and South Carolina. And so I've begun reading this.

It's called The Witness to History and it's a lot of photographs and pictures and all the history of this amazing movement that began when two traveling salesmen in 1898 ended up at an overcrowded hotel in the Midwest, I believe it was. They didn't know each other but they were asked if they wanted to share the room or the alternative was sleeping on a park bench and so they decided to share the room. And one of the men that night said to the other man he just met, you know, it's my custom and practice to read the Bible and pray before I get into bed and do you mind if I do that? And the man said, well, you know what? I'm a Christian too.

Let's read the word together and pray together. They did. Shared their testimony with each other and then they began to talk about the struggle it was to be a traveling salesman. I didn't realize that the reputation, especially in the early 1900s, but traveling salesmen were categorically reputed to be womanizers and drinkers and gamblers.

Rough life on the road. So these two men began to talk about what would it be like if we could somehow create this fellowship or we encouraged other traveling salesmen and then tell our friends about the gospel. So they started dreaming a little bit together. They began to invite other friends of theirs that knew the Lord who were also traveling salesmen and they had their very first meeting a year later and nobody came. But they kept at it.

They kept pressing on. By the way, as an aside, today the Gideons are organized in 200 countries. Nearly 200,000 businessmen. All volunteers are serving evangelistically in a lot of different ways. I thought it was just a Bible in a hotel, but it's actually everything from street evangelism to handing children's Bibles translated now in a hundred languages. In fact, they've given away now in a little over a hundred years more than two billion Bibles. They just kept sowing the seed.

I'll give you one illustration of where you never know what God's going to do. They recounted this in their book about Randy Smith from Louisiana. He was involved with some other Gideons who are distributing New Testaments to students standing outside the busy entrance to a major university in Port Alegre, Brazil. At one point, they gave a New Testament. Maybe you've seen one.

I have one in my pickup truck. I carry it around with me. A little New Testament to one of the students. He scoffed at them and then he said this. He said, you know what you can do with all these Bibles?

You can just throw them away like I'm going to do now. He took that New Testament he'd be giving and he threw it like a Frisbee and it just sailed away. It went over a flat rooftop and out of sight and he stomped away.

Well, that's encouraging. They kept pressing on. Later that afternoon, the author of this history writes, Randy and his team were approached by a man covered with tar stains on his arms, face and clothing.

They'd been working on a nearby building, putting tar on the roof to keep it from leaking. And he said to these men this, today I was making plans to take my life because I've messed it up so badly. But then a miracle happened. God hit me on the head with this Gideon Bible. I'm not recommending this method of evangelism, but you never know. God hit me on the head with this Gideon Bible. And he said, I have read this afternoon inside this little New Testament in the preface that I can be forgiven and have eternal life.

Would you please tell me how? And they did. There are many things in life you can't predict. Don't let the unexpected paralyze you with fear.

There are a lot of mysteries in life. Don't let them rob you of joy. We have been given the sweet light of a new day and we're off to a good start. Let's use it in whatever way God has placed in our lives ways to use it for his glory by his grace. You're going to have opportunities over the next few days to live a bold life of joy for the glory of God. Let's make the most of those opportunities. You've tuned in to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey.

I'm Scott Wiley. Today's message is called Living with the Unexplainable and Unexpected. And it comes from Stephen's teaching series through the book of Ecclesiastes called Pursuing Wisdom Under the Sun. This was lesson 10 in that series and there are three more to go. If you missed any of the previous messages, you can go back and listen online. We post them to our website which is wisdomonline.org. In the teaching archive section of our website, we have the full-length version of these sermons and there's video there if you want to watch in addition to listening. Thanks again for tuning in. Join us next time for more Wisdom for the Heart. You