Man’s Responsibility in God’s World

Ecclesiastes can be a discouraging book. If not read in light of the life we have with Christ above the sun life under the sun can be depressing.

Solomon has been clear about what can happen on this earth.

You work hard only to give it all to someone who throws it away.

The wicked sometimes live long and the righteous sometimes die young.

Wisdom is often overlooked, and foolishness is rewarded.

The qualified are passed over for the unqualified.

There doesn’t seem to be any certainty in this world. Even in our text this morning notice how many times the phrase “you do not know” is used:

Verse 2- you know not what disaster may happen on earth

Verse 5- You do not know the way of the spirit

Verse 5- you do not know the work of God.

Verse 6- you do not know what will prosper

The point is no matter how you live your life there will always be risk. Even many of the Proverbs we read in the Bible speak only of general truths. Granted there are promises in Proverbs that are absolutely true, but there are some proverbs that only speak of general truth, and they deal with life on this earth.

For instance:

Proverbs 12:11 says if you work hard you’ll have plenty to eat. That’s a general truth. But we live in a sinful world so you can work hard and someone can take it from you.

Proverbs 22:6 says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. That’s a general truth. But You can be a godly person who has a child that forsakes the Lord.

Proverbs 15:1 says a soft answer turns away wrath. That’s generally true. But you can respond the right way and someone else can decide to treat you like dirt.

How then should we respond?

Will we say, “If I can’t guarantee smooth sailing for myself, I won’t even try?”

No. Our response should be like Job “Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him.” Job 13:15

In our text Solomon shows us man’s responsibility in God’s world.

1. Diversify your life (1-2).

A. Your finances should be diversified.

Solomon became a very rich man by casting his bread upon the waters. He engaged in overseas trade (1 King 9:26-28). He built a fleet of ships that would be gone for three years at a time trading across the ocean. When the ships returned they brought gold, silver, and he even imported animals like apes and peacocks. He was the richest man on earth and he attained some of that wealth by trading overseas.

God will take care of you, but He has given you His Word to do that. We have to be willing to use the principles we see in His word. Look at verse 2. “Give a portion to seven or eight”. That’s called diversifying.

Why should we do this? Look at the end of verse 2. Something awful may happen.

You may lose your job.

You may lose your home.

You may get to a place where you can’t work any longer.

What’s your plan?

If your goal is to live off Social Security alone you may be in for a surprise!

Young people listen to me. As soon as you graduate you should begin preparing for retirement.

Every time you get a check:

Spend some money- Pay your bills

Save some money- Prepare for trouble

Give some money- Tithe!

Invest some money- secure your future

Here’s the part we don’t like “after many days” (1). But listen “many days” don’t take long.

You say:

I have a job! Not enough!

I have Social Security! - Not enough!

You know whats worse than being old? Being old and broke.

Depending on the government

Depending on people

No one wants to do that!

B. Your personal life should be diversified.

Is there balance in your life?

You have many needs to tend to:

Spiritual

Educational needs

Health needs

Economical needs

How are you investing in yourself? Is it one sided?

Some of us put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to our personal life.

I’ve known very spiritual people who neglected their health. Illustration diabetic pastor

I’ve known very healthy people who neglected their spiritual life.

I’ve known pastors who neglected their finances and found when they were older they had nowhere to live.

There are health disasters

There are financial disasters

There are spiritual disasters

There are all types of disaster we need to be prepared for in this world.

It’s foolish to say, “I’m healthy so I don’t need to concern myself with anything else.”

“I’m spiritual….”

“I’m smart….”

“I’m wealthy…”

What good is money if you don’t have your health?

What good is education if you have no income?

What good is any of it if you don’t have Christ?

C. We will reap what we have sown.

If you have dealt wisely with your finances

If you have been generous in your giving

If you have been a servant to others

It is likely you will reap a reward for this not only in heaven but to some degree on earth as well.

You say, “I don’t have much!”

Look what was thrown on the water. It was bread. It’s a the most basic of foods. It’s simple. It’s cheap. Everyone has bread!

The widow has her mite!

The little boy has his two fish!

Give what you can give!

Serve how you can serve!

To whatever measure God has given to you give it back to Him!

2. Do not allow fear to cripple you (3-5).

A. Solomon gives an example of disaster on the earth (3).

At face value this verse seems a little fatalistic. It teaches that sometimes things will happen that we have no control over. When the clouds get full of water they will empty themselves. When a tree falls it lays where it fell. The context of the verse is probably a storm. Terrible storms often include rain and wind that will topple trees. Storms in our life are going to come. We seldom receive warning about these storms.

The point is storms are going to come. We can’t stop them from coming.

When the clouds fill up with water it’s going to rain.

You can’t stop it.

If a tree starts falling you can’t stop it.

I watched a tree fall on my garage. It fell slowly. There was nothing I could do.

A few years ago my truck and a friends car were totaled in my driveway when a tree fell on them.

What are you gonna do? You can’t stop it.

The point is sometimes all you can do is watch what’s happening.

B. If we are crippled by fear we will hurt ourselves (4).

What is Solomon saying?

He’s saying we should not let the fear of calamity keep us from attempting things.

The farmer who is in a constant state of fear over the weather will not sow or reap.

“Better not plant today…”

It is possible to worry ourselves out of a blessing. Many people consider all of the bad things that could happen if they attempt something while disregarding all the good things that could happen. Such an outlook on life will limit our opportunity to enjoy life in its fullness.

Examples:

The woman afraid to marry for fear of divorce

The man afraid to take the promotion for fear of his inability to do the job

The young person afraid to go to college for fear of failure

If we aren’t careful we will keep ourselves from the opportunity of success. Fear must be replaced by faith. Can we fail? Sure we can. However, we know that God will even use our failures to build character and bring Him more glory.

C. Life must be lived by faith in Christ (5).

Solomon gives a great example of trusting in God.

He uses childbearing as his example.

He says:

You don’t know how the spirit enters a child.

You don’t know how that child is formed in the mother’s womb.

God creates life.

Pregnancy is a perfect illustration of how we must trust the Lord in our weakness. We could talk ourselves out of having children easily.

People do that all the time. Here’s a few examples I’ve heard for people not having children:

The shape of the world

The size of their bank account

The fear of medical problems

Usually these worries are not warranted. Our children bring us great happiness in the end. The point is that we should trust God to take care of us. A life void of faith will be a miserable life full of anxiety. Just as we trust God to take care of our children, we should trust Him to take care of everything else.

The mother isn’t to have a foolish faith. She realizes there is cause and effect in this world. She must do her part.

She watches what she puts in her body.

She refrains from risky physical activity.

But she trusts God ultimately. Pregnancy was life and death in Solomon’s day.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:34:

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

The old hymnist said:

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His word;

Just to rest upon His promise;

Just to know, Thus saith the Lord.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er,

Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus!

O for grace to trust Him more.

Louisa Stead wrote that hymn. Let me tell you what inspired it. She and her husband and their four-year-old daughter were having a picnic on the beach in Long Island NY. A young boy in the ocean began calling for help as he was drowning. The husband ran into the ocean to save young boy but both the boy and Louisa Stead’s husband drowned as she and her daughter watched. This was in the 1870’s. Life was hard for a widow with a young child. Louisa recognized that God by His grace cared for them providing their needs.

It was this tragedy and the ensuing care from God that inspired her to write this hymn.

She could have given up!

She could have said the clouds are full I’ll never go out again!

She could have said I’ll go nowhere because a tree may fall on me!

She pressed on in faith. She became a missionary to South Africa. God brought her a new husband.

The rain may fall!

Life may crumble down around you!

You can’t quit!

Press on in faith trusting Jesus!

3. Work diligently and leave the results to God (6).

A. Diligent work is virtuous.

Verse 6 reveals a person who works all day. He’s working in the morning and the evening.

The Christian is to be a worker:

1 Cor. 4:12 says “and we labor, working with our own hands.”

1 Thess. 4:11 says:

“and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,”

Ephesians 4:28 says:

“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

Illustration:

Someone puts in their two week notice at work and is a terrible employee that last two weeks.

Why?

They say, “What’s the point? What are they gonna do, fire me?”

The point is refusing to work hard says more about you than it does your employer.

In life we may ask “What’s the point?”

You represent Jesus, that’s the point.

Did Jesus slack off His last week on earth?

He came with a job to do and He was diligent until the end.

Laziness is an awful trait. Not even the devil is lazy. He works hard every day.

B. Diligent work may result in prosperity in this world.

Solomon says if you plant two crops one might prosper, or both might. The truth is both might fail.

I grew $100 tomatoes this year. When I do the math that’s about what each tomato cost me.

The fact is we don’t know. But I do know if I don’t plant tomatoes, I won’t get any. I know that.

The point is, give God an opportunity to bless you in this world and He may.

The more diligent we are, the more we diversify, the more likely we are to receive blessings from God in this world.

The more people you witness to the more likely you are to win one to the Lord.

The more people you invite to church the more likely someone is to come.

The more you pray the more likely you are to see answers to prayer.

The more you give the more likely you are to receive.

The more you encourage the more likely you are to be encouraged.

C. God will reward diligent work.

1 Corinthians 3:8 says each believer is rewarded for their own labor.

Their labor. Not their results. Their labor.

Some barely worked and had a lot of results like Jonah.

Some labored decades and saw virtually no results like Jeremiah.

In heaven God rewards us for our labor.

He knows how much we have sweat for Him.

There are mega pastors who preach to thousands and don’t work half as hard as the fellow who pastors a church of fifty people.

Someone may say “But Lord, look at all these people I brought with me to heaven!”

You didn’t bring anyone with you to heaven. God takes people to heaven. We don’t have the power to do that.

You have the promise from God that if you labor for Him He will reward you accordingly.

God doesn’t overlook any of His workers.

You see folks, we have a part in God’s plan. Our part is to:

Diversify our life

Trust God

Work diligently

That’s our part.

Are you doing that?

Have you allowed discouragement to keep your from trying?

Has laziness crept into your life?

Purpose today to be responsible in God’s world. He will reward you for it.