Ecclesiastes: The Adventure of a LifetimeSampl

Considering Circumstances

Our lives are just the prologue of a cosmic journey. And it is just one journey among a symphony of billions, in concert with a creation that declares the glory of God.

The goal of life is not to smooth out our circumstances, but to see how we might fully participate in the great song of the cosmos. The praise of Heaven. The worship of the King.

It is important to enjoy prosperity, but in Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes it clear that not all circumstances will be pleasant. Yet they are all part of the journey.

It is not easy to adopt the perspective that God is benevolent toward us when circumstances are hard. “Why would a loving God not want me to be comfortable?” Solomon waxes eloquently about the vaporous nature of human existence. We can’t understand it all. But when we trust God and adopt the perspective He invites us to take, everything makes a lot more sense. When times are bad, it is particularly important to worship, believing that God has our best interest at heart.

Let’s not get stuck in trying to eliminate adversity. Adversity is a temporal thing that is inviting us into an eternal bouquet of things. Worship. Knowledge of God. Faith.

This life is our one and only opportunity to know God by faith. Our vaporous existence on this planet is providing a cosmic blessing that we can only begin to understand. Let’s exercise the faith to embrace our tremendous opportunity and life’s challenges while enjoying its blessings.

Let’s pray and ask the Lord to help us take the cues He is sending our way to break out in worship and praise. Let’s lift up His name with words of adoration and songs. For His mighty deeds and wonderful love are still the same amidst crashing waves. Let’s tell Him how we hunger for growing in His knowledge and in His grace. May we be known by Him, so that our relationship is not a figment of our imagination, but a solid rock to rest upon. Let’s ask Him to deepen our trust in His ways by the heeding of His Word, trusting that amid adversity, we will value His gaze more than our comfort.

Please read further and enjoy more of the Book of Ecclesiastes as God guides you to do so.