Responding to Risk

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning,

and at evening let your hands not be idle,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that,

or whether both will do equally well.

Ecclesiastes 11:4–6

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Solomon speaks to us in these verses of how we should respond to the threat of chance disasters and misfortunes in life. Are you a risk taker? Or are you more prone to sit on the sidelines waiting for ideal circumstances, for the sure thing?

If you are looking for a path through life that comes with zero risk, you won’t find it. And if you are waiting for ideal conditions, they won't come. All you will accomplish in the end is preventing yourself from ever doing anything.

Yes, life is full of misfortune and disaster and unpredictability, but behind it all is a God we trust who is in control…even when we don’t understand what He is doing. And the best thing for us is not to shout at the heavens, nor is it to sit on the sidelines of life doing nothing. No! The right response to uncertainty and unpredictability and potential disasters is found in verse 6. 

We should “Sow our seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, [i.e. take on some other skill to bring in money] for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” In other words, don’t let the difficulties of life paralyze you. On the contrary, let them motivate you to action!

This is a good reminder for me. I'm not much of a risk taker. In fact, I'm very risk averse. But what people like me forget is that there's inherent risk in doing nothing. We think, "If I don't play, then I can't lose." But the reverse is just as true. "If I don't play, then I can't win!" It is much better to invest your money and your life liberally and diversely and take the risk of loss along with the risk of profit than it is to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. At least you will have lived and done what you could.

‌‌You have a limited amount of time, money and resources in this life. Use them wisely. Don't bury your talent. Do something for the Lord. Try multiple and varied things. You never know what might pay off in the end.

Think about Death

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

There is a tendency toward self-deception about death in all of us. We all claim to know that we'll die one day and yet when it begins to look like that may become a present possibility on any particular day we are taken off guard. Why is that? It's because we are easily self-deluded about our own mortality. We would much rather turn a blind eye and go on thinking about something more pleasant. In other words, we would rather go to the house of feasting than the house of mourning. 

But Solomon says it's better to go to the house of mourning. Why? Well, what benefit can one get from going to a feast? Perhaps a little happiness or merriment but no positive life change. But, when you go to a funeral there is at least a chance that you will consider your end and adjust your way of living accordingly. Though the Hebrew is hard to understand, I believe this is what Solomon means in verse three when he says "by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better." No one has ever become a better person because they went to a party, but some lives have been changed for the better by great loss.

So take a page out of the playbook of the wise. Even though you would rather do about anything else, discipline yourself to think about death for "that is the end of all men." And I would add that of all people it is believers who should be able to think the most clearly about death because we know that it no longer holds power over us. Death has been swallowed up in victory in Christ Jesus our Lord and one day it will be no more. Until that day, be ready and live in such a way that death won't take you by surprise or leave you ashamed of the life you lived.

Pause (W.o.W. Rewind)

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

I pride myself on being a hard worker...though some days I wonder if this is more pride and less a fair evaluation of my work ethic. Still I try to live up to the standard of my heroes. I try not to give in when things get difficult or give up when something doesn't quite come together. This is good, but there are limits. It is possible for a person to work himself into the ground. It's also possible to work and work and work and never quite get anywhere. 

The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes understands this well. He laments the vanity of life, the cyclical nature of our world that makes it hard for any one man to make a lasting impact. 

All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. (Ecc. 1:2-5)

You do the laundry, and the clothes get dirty again. You mow the lawn, and the grass keeps growing. No matter how hard you work there will always be something else to do and what you have done will almost invariably undo itself again. So how are we to live in a world this maddening?!

Our passage for the day gives us insight. We should be careful not to get caught up rushing, rushing, rushing all the time... doing things that don't make any lasting change. Ultimately, we can't break completely free of the cycles of life. In some ways we are stuck on this hamster wheel. We can run as fast as we can but all we'll accomplish is making the wheel spin faster. We aren't really getting anywhere. 

Instead, the teacher challenges us to pause. To look around us and consider what God has blessed us with and what has come out of all our hard work. Take time to enjoy the gifts God has given you, not selfishly, but expressly as gifts from God. Take time to thank Him for these things. You just may find that taking time to pause and turning to God in gratefulness will foster more spiritual growth than all your activity ever has. 

Solomon's Warning About on Money

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Solomon is uniquely qualified to give the believer advice about how to deal with money. First, he is the wisest man (apart from Christ) to ever live. Second, he was the richest king in his lifetime. Solomon not only has the wisdom; he has the real-life experience to boot. The Bible says Solomon became so wealthy and gold and precious stones became so common in his kingdom that silver was of little value in his day. Silver was as common as stones in his capital city of Jerusalem (I Kings 10:27). In other words, Solomon has more experience and success in this area than any of us and we would do well to heed his advice on the topic of money. 

And here is basically what he says. Money can’t be your purpose in life. 

Money is a great tool. It can be used to give your family a better life. It can be used to advance God’s kingdom or feed the hungry or educate our children. Yes, money is a great tool but it’s lousy reason for living. 

Solomon had tried it! He knew what it meant to have money and he was searching for the meaning of life, and he testifies as one who has been there that money cannot make you happy. It cannot give you purpose in life. It can't be the reason you get out of bed in the morning. If you begin to love money, if you begin to live for it, then you will never be satisfied. Matthew Henry in his renowned commentary on the whole Bible says, “Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable.” If I am hungry and I eat food, my hunger goes away because it is a natural desire. But when I have a corrupt desire, when I lust after riches, then no amount of money will ever satisfy me. Henry adds more clarity. He says, “Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.” 

Wanting to be rich, loving money is a trap. And if you fall for it, you will never be satisfied! Consider what 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says on the subject. 

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Don’t add needless grief to your life. Beware the love of money. Guard your heart against it. Ruthlessly weed it out of your life. Use money. Earn money. Spend money. Save Money. But DON'T love money.

Pause

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

I pride myself on being a hard worker...though some days I wonder if this is more pride and less a fair evaluation of my work ethic. Still I try to live up to the standard of my heroes. I try not to give in when things get difficult or give up when something doesn't quite come together. This is good, but there are limits. It is possible for a person to work himself into the ground. It's also possible to work and work and work and never quite get anywhere. 

The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes understands this well. He laments the vanity of life, the cyclical nature of our world that makes it hard for any one man to make a lasting impact. 

All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. (Ecc. 1:2-5)

You do the laundry, and the clothes get dirty again. You mow the lawn, and the grass keeps growing. No matter how hard you work there will always be something else to do and what you have done will almost invariably undo itself again. So how are we to live in a world this maddening?!

Our passage for the day gives us insight. We should be careful not to get caught up rushing, rushing, rushing all the time... doing things that don't make any lasting change. Ultimately, we can't break completely free of the cycles of life. In some ways we are stuck on this hamster wheel. We can run as fast as we can but all we'll accomplish is making the wheel spin faster. We aren't really getting anywhere. 

Instead, the teacher challenges us to pause. To look around us and consider what God has blessed us with and what has come out of all our hard work. Take time to enjoy the gifts God has given you, not selfishly, but expressly as gifts from God. Take time to thank Him for these things. You just may find that taking time to pause and turning to God in gratefulness will foster more spiritual growth than all your activity ever has.