Enjoying Life As It Comes

Life is filled with absurdities isn’t it…

The definition of absurd is ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, incongruous.

Life is filled with things that are ridiculously unreasonable…like gas prices.

For example, here are some absurd laws in the state of Louisiana…before I tell you some of these, it is important to know that most of these laws were enacted because the police encountered someone doing it and there was no legal remedy for that situation…so lawmakers enacted these laws to counteract those situations so they would not have to deal with them in the future. (I found these on morrisbart.com, a New Orleans attorney)

Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked.

If you attend a funeral dinner, it is illegal for you to eat more than three sandwiches.

Snakes are not allowed within 200 yards of a parade.

It is illegal to tie an alligator to a fire hydrant.

It is illegal to gargle in public

Goatees are illegal in public unless you first pay a license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public.

In New Orleans, it is illegal for a woman to drive unless your husband is waving a flag in front of your car at the time.

We chuckle or laugh at those because we agree they are absurd…who in their right mind would ever try to enforce one of those laws…it just doesn’t make sense.

We’ve been walking through Ecclesiastes and Solomon has been sharing his observations about life that just didn’t make sense to him…

Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s journal about his journey to discover something to bring meaning to his life and all he could find was that life under the sun was absurd…ridiculously unreasonable, incongruent, and even unsound…he used the term futile and vain.

You would think that Solomon being the wisest person to ever live would have found the answer quickly and easily…after all God was the one who provided Solomon with more wisdom than anyone before or after him.

The reality is, the more Solomon investigated life, the more frustrated he became. Solomon struggled to make sense of his world.

Over and over again, Solomon repeats the thought of looking for the meaning of life was chasing after the wind…it is futility…life is meaningless…nothing makes sense… a common phrase we might use today would be “I just don’t get it.”

One of the things I love about the Scripture is that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we see real people with real struggles expressing those struggles and how they dealt with them…we especially see this in the wisdom genre of the Old Testament…Ecclesiastes is designated as wisdom literature.

Ecclesiastes is a book filled with thoughts from someone who struggled with the problems of life and it serves as a great book for us because we too struggle often with life…

none of us have the same level of wisdom that God granted to Solomon so in a real way, our struggles to make sense of life is severely lacking.

Our journey through Ecclesiastes reveals to us that even when life’s absurdities leave us with more questions than answers, we simply have to trust God knows what He is doing.

That is where we find ourselves today in Ecclesiastes 9.

Context of Chapter 9

In the first 6 chapters Solomon has pointed us to his research…his path of discovery to find something meaningful…nothing worked.

From chapter 7 until the end of the book, Solomon shifts to providing us with practical insights he gained from his journey…remember he is writing this near the end of his life…his hope is to keep his audience from suffering the same problems he did.

In chapter 8, Solomon is struggling with the inconsistent application of justice…it doesn’t make sense to him that righteous people suffer for doing good while evil people prosper in their evil.

Even listening to his own advice in verse 15 to simply eat, drink and be merry, he still did not have all the answers he was hoping to find.

We see his frustration in verses 16-17.

Eccl 8:16-17 “When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover.”

Solomon is being honest here…Solomon has grown extremely frustrated with his experiment…

Life is hard and it is impossible for anyone, including the wisest of people, to know for certain what God is doing.

If anyone tries to tell you they have figured out the meaning of life or to have unlocked the secret plans of God…they are lying to you.

Solomon tells us here he has spent many sleepless nights trying to figure this all out and has come up empty…the more he tried to figure it out, the more anxious he became.

The same can be said about us…We are so busy trying to bring meaning to our own lives that we never seem to get the rest we need!

We also grow weary trying to understand the work of God…we see God’s work, but we don’t always understand it…no matter how wise we are, no matter how much we truly seek to understand, we fail to comprehend his holy ways…God even told us this...

Isaiah 55:8 NASB95

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

Verse 17 confronts us with our limitations...

Some people look at our world and conclude there is no God…this life is all there is...

Others conclude that if God exists, He cannot really be in control since there is so much chaos…he cannot be a loving God or else none of this evil nonsense would exist.

Solomon doesn’t think that way…although he is skeptical about his own ability to know the mind of God, he believes that what happens in the world is the work of God.

If we are going to be honest with ourselves, we have to admit there are far too many mysteries about life that we cannot comprehend.

And we must be careful to not doubt the existence of God or decide that he is uncaring or unable to impact the situations we face.

Some people get angry or even frustrated because they expect to have all the answers for what is happening in their lives.

As finite beings we must come to grips with the reality that our life this side of heaven is to be a life of faith that rests in the sovereign hands of our wise and loving God.

Solomon begins making conclusions from his experiment, and at first read, this chapter will seem quite dark…so as we read this text of Ecclesiastes 9:1-9, we need to keep in mind Solomon’s ultimate conclusion in chapter 12:13-14.

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 NASB95

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

Here is what was absurd to Solomon...it doesn’t matter how wise you are, how much money you make, how much comfort you have, how successful you are, how religious you are, or how cleanly you live your life…

Everyone must deal with death, the great robber of life who comes for us all and steals the value out of life on earth…unless your life is characterized by the fear of God, it is all meaningless.

Death for all was absurd to him, but in spite of that absurdity, he concludes life can still be enjoyed.

Main Point: Life Is Enjoyable Because God Reigns Over It.

How can we enjoy life with all its absurdities?

Solomon gives us 4 conclusions to help us learn to enjoy life as it comes!

Conclusion #1...

God Reigns Over Your Future, so Trust Him with It. (1)

Eccl 9 1 “For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.”

“this” — everything from chapter 8 especially what he says in verses 16-17…man cannot know what God is up to...

Solomon affirms his belief in the sovereignty of God here and then identifies his frustrations with the practical implications of that belief.

“the hand of God” — is used throughout the Scripture to express God’s power, love, supervision, and control…here it is used as a metaphor expressing his sovereign supervision (please notice in the word sovereign is the word “reign” meaning He is in charge).

For us , this becomes a source of comfort and assurance.

We know how much our God loves us…look to the cross if you can’t remember!

We can leave all our burdens, all our trials, all our cares in God’s hands because the Savior who loves us and died for us also cares for us!

We have the privilege of looking back to the cross…Solomon could not see the cross…he is writing before the cross and responds out of his struggle to understand what God is doing in the world…that comes out clearly in the rest of verse 1… “man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.”

This is Solomon’s frustration…He believes in the sovereignty of God, but even in all his wisdom he concludes it is impossible to know whether your life will be one of blessing or one of adversity.

When the Bible applies the terms of love and hate to God…here is how we understand them...

Love = God’s acceptance

Hate = God’s rejection

Romans 9:13 “Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”” …means that Jacob was accepted by faith, Esau is rejected in his unbelief.

Solomon is frustrated with the reality that being in God’s hand is no guarantee of prosperity…we cannot use our circumstances to determine if God is for us or against us…your future is uncertain, it is impossible for you to know whether your future is one of prosperity or adversity.

We can identify with Solomon’s frustration can’t we?

We want to have a blessed life, and for many, the belief is that once they trust Christ as their Savior, that suddenly their life will be a life of ease filled with all the good this world has to offer.

Many preachers and teachers today want you to believe the if you really love God, then you be happy, healthy, and wealthy.

Books tell you that if you pray certain prayers, then your territory will be expanded.

Just because you are a believer, that is no guarantee you will have a life of prosperity, good health or a pain-free life.

No where in Scripture does God promise a life of ease for his people…in fact the opposite is true...

John 16:33 NASB95

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

God’s people do suffer, but we trust in Jesus, we trust that He is enough for us…we trust His timing and His plan are best, even in the midst of suffering...

Solomon concludes then that since godliness is not a guarantee of prosperity or comfort, we cannot look at our circumstances to determine if God is for us or against us.

This leads Solomon to his next conclusion...

Recognize that Death is the Great Equalizer (2-3).

Eccl 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”

Solomon demonstrates this truth that everyone is affected by death by giving us six pairs of people to show the totality of death’s impact...

It doesn’t matter if you are righteous or wicked, good or evil, clean or unclean, one who sacrifices or one who does not, a good person or a sinner, or one who makes oaths or one who does not…Death comes to All.

This is coming from someone who is an Israelite because he is saying that even being an obedient Israelite amounts to nothing at the end of the day.

Things that are supposed to matter to God, sacrifices, oaths, living by the law, seem to make no real difference.

Regardless of how religious we are, we all die.

This proves that life’s situations give us no clue to what God really thinks of us.

Ecclesiastes has pointed us to the futility of life in everything under the sun and death is the climax of life’s absurdities.

This frustrated Solomon to no end…in fact in verse 3, he thinks it evil that all suffer the same fate…he further identifies his frustration with that because of the wickedness of humanity…he clearly ties the result of death back to the fall of man in Genesis 3.

Because of Adam’s sin, we have all inherited corruption, sin, depraved minds, and death.

Ecclesiastes 9 confirms the NT truth of Romans 3:23 that all have fallen short of God’s standard and Romans 6:23 that what we earn (wages) for our sinfulness is death.

Solomon is frustrated by the truth that regardless of how you live now, you will die…everyone dies…it just doesn’t make sense to him....death is the great equalizer…

The implication of this truth is don’t let what you see on earth discourage you.

His 3rd conclusion about life/death...

You Can’t Enjoy Life When You’re Dead (4-6).

Eccl 9:4-6 “For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.”

Despite the absurdity of life in this cursed world, Solomon concludes that life is better than death.

The reason is that those who are still alive have hope.

Solomon uses a memorable proverb here to compare life and death.

compares a living dog with a dead lion.

Even though I believe dogs are better than cats, that is not what this proverb is teaching...

We tend to think of dogs as “man’s best friend”, they are cute, and endear themselves to us as family pets.

in the ancient world, dogs were scavengers…like vultures or rats…they licked up the blood of Ahab and ate Queen Jezebel’s corpse (1 Kings 22; 2 Kings 9).

Lions, were viewed as powerful and stately, often associated with royalty.

His point is that even the most vile disgusting person who is alive is better than the most noble person who is dead.

Why…Solomon then gives us reasons why this is true.

Death brings ignorance…the dead know nothing.

Death brings a permanent end to your earthly existence…no longer have a share in all that is done.

Death brings irreparable loss…do not gain any earthly reward (no Heavenly rewards either for those outside of Christ.

Death brings oblivion…no one remembers the dead when they are gone.

When you’re dead, all your emotions are gone, you have nothing of what you worked so hard to attain.

If life under the sun is all there is, then death wipes away everything…all our memories, all our possessions, all our feelings, all our relationships.

The living have hope because they are at least conscious of the fact they will die…that is the advantage…while you are still alive you have time to prepare yourself for death…you can enjoy life as a gift, repent of sin, live differently in light of death coming!

The problem is most people don’t take their death seriously enough which leads them to waste their time on earth with distractions…they think they have a limitless supply of days to make things right with God, so they reach for all this life has to offer now.

This leads Solomon to his fourth conclusion.

Take Every Opportunity to Enjoy Life as God Gives It to You (7-9).

Eccl 9:7-9 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”

This is not a contradiction to Solomon’s frustrations of life under the sun…These are balance statements…facing death has a way of making you enjoy life more!

This is a “carpe diem”…seize the day exhortation...Go conveys a sense of urgency…imperative…commanded to enjoy life...

v.7 — is not a blanket endorsement of everything people do as if God approved of wickedness…

“God has already approved...” both the gifts and the ability to enjoy those gifts comes from God…God makes life enjoyable when lived His Way!

Life’s enjoyments are not guilty pleasures but godly pleasures, or at least they ought to be…joy in our heart is part of God’s gracious will for our lives.

What pleasures are we to enjoy? Solomon mentions at least 4…contentment, celebrations, companionship, calling.

Contentment — eating and drinking

enjoy good meals…enjoy fellowship around the table…food is a wonderful gift from God meant to be enjoyed with the variety of flavors.

Be grateful for the provision of food

Celebrations — garments and oils

White garments were the “dress up clothes of their time…many festive occasions were adorned with robes of white…war heroes in a victory parade, slaves on their day of freedom, priests on high holy days of Israel…contemporary context would be like telling us to put on tuxedos and evening gowns.

Oil — sweet perfumes

Anointing one’s head with oil was to pour out something richly scented, like cologne.

Don’t just look good, smell good too, which was especially needed in that hot climate.

Take the time to celebrate life every day…every day we are alive is another day we have to serve God and love one another.

Companionship — wife whom you love

Literally “the woman you love”… he is commending the daily pleasures of marriage and family life.

Husbands enjoy your wife…spend time together as friends, set aside time to do things you both enjoy…prizing one another…value her as a person…listen carefully to her by not trying to fix all her problems...

But pastor you don’t know my wife…she’s not very enjoyable to be around…then I remind you to do it anyway…God commands you to love her regardless of how she acts…your love and enjoyment of your wife is an act of obedience.

“all the days of your fleeting life” — “I love you all the days of my vain life because that is my portion” is not something you want to say on your next anniversary card...

He is not being cynical here…he is wanting husbands to take a serious view of life to make sure they have made room for joy in their marriage.

By saying “all the days of your fleeting life” he reminds us that life is short…your earthly life is so short, don’t waste it with aimless pursuits of nothing…love your wife and enjoy her while you can!

Calling — toil

“under the sun” referring to the regular calling of our earthly existence…whatever God has called you to do…enjoy it!

Whatever profession you find yourself in right now…enjoy it by recognizing God has placed you in that field to impact this world for Him…

Work is not a curse, it is a gift from God...

Applications

Focus on God’s promises.

You don’t know when your time is up, so use it wisely.

Treasure the opportunities you have to love your spouse and your family.

Whether tomorrow brings adversity or prosperity, you can trust God knows what He is doing.

Remember that being a disciple is not just about where your journey ends, it is also about who you become along the way.