How do we view the events which come across our paths in life? Particularly the stuff we wish did not happen? Sometimes it can cripple us. Sometimes it can cause us to doubt God’s kindness. Sometimes we plough on as if nothing has happened. Many try and take control of their lives and put things in place to minimise the risk of bad events. It doesn’t work. As Christians one temptation can be to use the events of life as excuses as to why we have not lived as wholeheartedly for the Lord as we might otherwise have done.
On Sunday morning we looked at Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. Verse 3 reminds us that circumstances happen in life, and this is completely beyond our control:
“If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.”
God is sovereign and no matter how hard we try to control our own destinies, we can’t. Knowing this, we can either decide to live worrying about the future and to withdraw from serving God, or we can step out in faith trusting God’s purposes. Ecclesiastes encourages the latter. We do not understand God’s purposes, but we trust him. We are assured of God’s care and provision for us as we see that he sent his only Son for our greatest need, and we use everything that he has blessed us with to live and speak for Jesus. We do not know where God will bring fruit, but we leave that to him and simply seek to obey him in every aspect of our lives.