God at Work

We are inundated with all kinds of construction around us these days. You can’t go anywhere without seeing orange signs pointing out that there are workers ahead, lanes closed ahead, slow moving vehicles, vehicles changing lanes, lanes shifting, and on and on.

Miles of miles of orange cones, barrels, and vested people. We sit in our cars at standstill. We struggle with the lack of movement. We want to honk our horns or find alternate routes. We ask Google and Waze to get us out of the mess!

We absolutely hate the congestion and the way it messes with our transition from point A to B and back to A. And then we want to pull our hair out if we have to imagine a point C is in there somewhere!

So much of this is like what Solomon is saying to the readers of his sermon in Ecclesiastes. We often seek a better way.

We believe that there is a way, a life, a goal that is better and if better it has to be good, and yet we get frustrated when the orange cones go up and all of a sudden our favorite route seems to be “Under Construction.”

Let’s remind ourselves of the proverbs that Solomon is expressing here. In many ways they are quite different from some of the Proverbs you might read in the book of Proverbs found just prior.

Solomon has offered that there are some things better. Again this is that Hebrew word, טוֹב (tob - “tove”). It is used all throughout this passage and in the book of Ecclesiastes.

It is what God called His creation. It is what Job said comes from God. It is the hand of God seen in our realm of earth and life. Thus we see a play on the concept of what is good.

This all comes out of 6:12 - For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life?

Then Solomon goes on to do what seems to us as very odd. He begins to name things that are better, but what he offers are not things that we would ever assume to be better.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .Names versus ointment of wealth. Death vs. Birth. The house of mourning vs. the house of feasting. Sorrow is better than laughter and the rebuke of a wise man is better than the song of a fool. The end is better than the beginning.

Names (reputation) vs. ointment of wealth. Death Day vs. Birthday. The house of mourning (Funeral) vs. the house of feasting (Wedding). Sorrow is better than laughter and the rebuke of a wise man is better than the song of a fool. The end is better than the beginning.

All of these are sentiments of perspective. Keep remembering that what Solomon is referring to is a perspective, “Under the sun.”

Amongst the other things Solomon has said, note vs. 10 and following. Solomon offers an interesting statement here in vs. 10

Do not say...For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

This is no appropriate…This is not fitting...

This is no appropriate…This is not fitting...

This is no appropriate…This is not fitting...

The former days are better than these.

Solomon takes the words of others and addresses them.

These types of words, this sentiment is not right.

What isn’t right about them? Have you ever said that?

“Well, the good old days....”

Have you ever alluded to how things were before? As if to say that when they happened back then that life was better and that things were in their place and that all would be right with the world if we could just go back to a more saner day?

Some might argue that for the political wrangling of our day. Well, you know, back in my day we didn’t have all of these issues. Ok, so what you are saying is that there were no issues, or just that the ones you are focused on now didn’t exist?

Solomon is pointing out that their is nothing new under the sun. You just were not aware or just not in a place where the corruption and the violence, and the greed and the evil directly affected you like it does in one particular way or another.

Every generation has dealt with the handouts of the previous generation. Every generation has struggled with the decisions of the generation after them.

Garrett put it this way, Apart from the fact that such longing does no one any good, every period has its hardships and opportunities.

Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 320.

Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 320.

Then you get to vs 11-12 and you find this place where you would expect Solomon to say that Wisdom is better than Inheritance. That the Wisdom is the principle thing. With all your getting, get her. That is what he had written in Proverbs.

Here the language places Wisdom and Inheritance on an equal estimation of value. The point that Solomon making is again, both will fade. You will die. You will face life and deal with the good and the adversity. Wisdom is good to have when you have money because you will use it wisely to secure the days you have “under the sun.”

But “consider” or another word, “see.” It is the idea of “observe.” It is the same word Solomon will use in v. 15 - “I have seen...”

He wants you to see, to observe, to consider. Solomon is taking our face, turning it away from the narrowness of our perspective, asking us to look, see.

See what? See the Work of God.

I want to just focus on the things that Solomon wants us to see about the Work of God in these next two verses.

In the middle of these two verses is that statement we focused on last time.....

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 7

In the day of prosperity be happy

In the day of prosperity be happy

Prosperity here is referring to good things. It is basically that same Hebrew word tove. In the day of…when all is going great! When all is awesome! In the days when you have plenty be…merry, good, happy, joyful!

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

Oh, now that is easy. God is good! Amen! You that are discouraged, lift your heads. You that are struggling, just know that God is on your side. I am having a tove tove day! You should too! Come on! Why so glum? Why so down? Can’t you trust in God?

But note the next part of vs. 14 - But in the day of evil, adversity, misfortune, disaster —

Consider

God has made the one as well as the other.

Now that is not easy. I am not in a place to understand. I am not in a place to rejoice. And to top it all off, Solomon says that it is God’s fault!

Let me give you an example of the issue that Solomon is raising.

Let’s say we have a person close to us who needs a kidney transplant. He has been on this list for some time and without them he will not have a strong and vibrant life. So, how do we pray?

We pray, Lord provide the organ that will help this person to live and enjoy a full life. In Jesus’ name we pray and believe it possible, Amen.

Now stop and think about what you are asking. In order for that need to be met, think about the prayer on the other side of that issue.

Let’s say a young man is rushed into a hospital after being hit head on by a drunk driver. His parents get the word and they rush to sit in a waiting room to hear from the doctors if their boy is going to live or not. What are they praying for?

Lord, we are praying for healing and that our son will survive this event. Please allow him to recover and to be able to come home again.

Consider....

1. You Can’t, but God Can

Keep a clear understanding of the place you are in Scripture and what the theme of this book is. Solomon is looking out at life as we see it. He is offering an observation and a grand experiment. He is demonstrating that life is filled with questions and few conclusions. We live, we die. We work and we sweat and we give it away. We are examining the purpose of our lives. We are asked to evaluate what we are pursuing.

Here Solomon is telling you and me that we can’t take what God has bent and straighten it. God’s will is set and will not be changed.

What that does then is bring us to examine the character of this God and to see if He has our best interests at heart.

All through Scripture we are informed that God is good. That God only does what is good.

That God is love and that He only works through that love.

That God is just and fair and that God is a rewarder of them that seek Him.

We are informed that God is all powerful and all knowing.

That God is everywhere present and that He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

We read that God created all things good and for the good of His creation.

We read that in all of God’s intentions it was to establish a place where He could have fellowship with us and we could enjoy His company.

But why then is all of this such a mess!?

When you study out this idea of work and God, and see how it is used in Scripture you find many references that are directed toward the blessing of God upon the work of man’s hands.

There are over 65 references to Work and God and most are looking at how God has commanded or directed His people to do what He has instructed them so that they will enjoy the product or the accomplishment of their labor.

Most of it is in connection with faith practices. It is tied to how they will demonstrate their hope in God and trust in His help to accomplish the task.

"Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, 'Our god,' To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy."

Hosea points to a work of their hands as a reference to manufacturing idols.

What I see in our lives is that we have built our world around the idols of our heart and the idols of our flesh. We want and therefore we will have. We build so that we can put a stake in the ground and identify what we have accomplished. We work to claim right to some sort of inheritance or legacy.

Solomon is saying, your days are created by God. Your course is not in your hand as much as you cannot control the weather.

If you see good, then count it as good. If you face adversity, consider, God made that day too. Will you recognize the nature of God has not changed and that if we see it as a bend in the road that it is something that is good that is coming from the hand of God?

You and I can’t, but God can.

You can’t add stature to your height.

You can’t add hair to your head.

You can’t add seconds to your day.

You can’t.

You can’t save yourself. Put yourself into God’s good grace. Forgive yourself, or justify yourself before a Holy God

But God can.

For apart from me you can do nothing.

Solomon is right. There is little hope in this life…apart from God.

2. Your Nose, God’s eyes

Man will not discover anything after him.

Ever heard the expression, You can only see as far as the end of your nose?

It is a sense of perspective and how we often fail to live in reality. We are always sticking our noses where they don’t belong because we think we know better or because we think we have a better view on things.

We are focused on how we see it and often that leads us to decisions where we are now confronted with areas of life we are not sure of how to solve or cope.

We then begin to pass judgment on God. He isn’t fair. He isn’t nice. He doesn’t love me. He is doing something to hurt me. He is not what the Scriptures say He is.

All of that is based on the fact that we can’t see what is coming tomorrow and we believe that life revolves around me because I am the center of my universe.

I see it all the time in my life and in the lives of others. I am certain of a course of life and then one you interrupts my day to remind me that I am not the center of your universe. You are certain that I am stepping into your galaxy unbidden.

I see it when young people come to me and they have all of life planned out and they are ignoring the advice of older people and struggling with those that want to hold them back.

I see it when I speak to older people who assume that the next generation is taking us to hell and back and they just can’t believe what this new generation is up to.

We have so many opinions and universes all around us and I begin to think that I am the only sane person in the room, that my opinion is the only sound voice, that my wisdom is the only deep well, and that life is how I ought to make it.

Then tragedy hits. Then evil comes. Then plans go awry. Then life takes a right turn where it has been going left for so long.

I am again reminded that I can’t see past the end of my nose.

I am not fully aware of all that God is doing. Solomon was struggling with this very thing.

Let’s get honest. You and I do to. Oh, no. Do not tell me that you take everything and just think that it all makes perfect sense. If it was my child that had to die so that your child could live with his organs, that just doesn’t make sense.

Don’t tell me that in all of life you get the sense of it.

But the ones who recognize that their is a God in the heavens and that He does see all and knows all and that He is at work realize that in the end, God’s way is best.

The struggle is that we think that this is the life we were promised.

We become content for this world.

We become satisfied to believe that this is all there is.

That is not what we find in Scripture.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the men of old gained approval.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;

for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Then note what is found in chapter 12:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Solomon had a limited view and a small portion of revelation in comparison to what would come after him.

I think of men like Joseph who with just a small awareness of God and limited revelation would only seek to follow God in a foreign land and not violate the character of God.

I think of men like Daniel, ripped from his homeland, sold as a slave and yet would not defile himself with anything that was attributed to idols. He later would become one of the most powerful men in a kingdom not of his own nation. Still they would try to find issues with him and he would only be found guilty of loving his God too much.

I think of women like Mary who would enter with the expensive ointment and break the box and pour it on the feet of Jesus. His name was more important to her than the cost of her perfume and Christ in that passage says in "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.”

In one way Solomon was right. The name of Christ is better than wealth. Death is better than birth.

Christ puts a whole new spin on suffering and purpose. Christ informs us that God has a plan even when all we can see is the end of our noses.

In all of this as we study through Ecclesiastes, we need to remember that life is not about what we see under the sun. We will continue in this passage and see that again Solomon is observing. He is taking life as it happens and sees the conflict. He draws us to examine the intent and purpose of our life.

Solomon is challenging the status quo and begs the questions that many times we are not willing to ask. But without God working in our lives we will only see that this life is futile and empty.

Think about the mass shootings. The ever increasing suicide rates. The hostility between families and the constant pressure to be more successful than your neighbor.

Think about the purpose of your life. What about that life you are living is with eternity in mind?

How much of your life includes a view of God as in charge? As the authority? How do you view God when you think of Him as being the One who created the day in which you will discover what you describe as good and then on another day what you would describe as a tragedy?

Has God changed? Has your view of this life changed? Will you seek to blame God for not making it work out the way you wanted it to? Will you declare that life is empty!? Life is meaningless!?

Or will you realize that what God created was good. Man turned his back on God and designed in his imagination a better way. Man decided to take what he knew, the knowledge of good and evil and device a way to do it better than God.

God had a plan though. He had a better way. This is what Solomon was not focused on as he sought to understand life under the sun. This is a frustrating and futile life when it is void of God and seeing that He is at work.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

It is comforting to know as Paul says in

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

I was in conversation with a group of friends last night and one of them mentioned

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Our life is not vain, not empty, not futile, not just vapor, when we are understanding that God is at work and we are to be working that work. We are to be busy about eternal matters. We are to remember that there is coming a day, the Day of the Lord, when He will put things back into order and back as He originally created them.

What a day that will be! But for now, God is at Work. He has not abandoned His duty and He will accomplish what is good even in the days of adversity.

What is your life’s purpose? To re-purpose your days to make them work out for your definition of good?

Or, are you willing to live out your purpose fulfilling God’s purpose in you as you live a life for His glory and for the eternal plan He has in store for all who will see Him as God of their days under the sun and the ones that will come in eternity?