For the last couple of days, I have been reading the beginning of Ecclesiastes. While reading, I encountered some interesting nuggets of truth. Let me start by saying, I do not have the foggiest idea about how to teach this book. Praise God that He is giving me something to learn.
The Preacher here seems to keep talking about wisdom and foolishness. And at first, I took it for face value that being wise is better than being foolish. But then I encountered the verses 16 and 17 in chapter 2:
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is unity and striving after wind.
At this point, I thought, “What is the point of living then?” Why continue doing all the things that I do if there is no end goal? Why am I striving to keep the house clean, the boys fed, the laundry done, the Bible studying continued, the relationships strengthened, etc? Why do all of this if it is all for nothing?
God began speaking to me softly but firmly. He said that this is teaching me to let go of the control. Let go of trying to make things happen when that is His role. Stop pushing yourself in directions on a path that has not been laid out for you, and walk the path God has prepared uniquely for you. That is what He is teaching here.
So in answer to those many questions I asked, He is teaching me to continue in those activities. It is not for nothing. It is the path set before me to walk in. But, trying to control the details is not for me to hold on to. I need to recognize my role in something, then let it go as done. There is no permanent gain in doing each individual task. There are some things that we can control, like receiving or rejecting Jesus. But there are other things that we can’t control, like if what we said to someone to console them actually helped, or if taking that call from a friend instead of watching the rest of a game before calling them back. We don’t have all of the information to know what the outcomes will be to everything. But God does.
Truly believing God as Sovereign is trusting Him to know all things. No matter how difficult our lives may be in this season, if we just trust Him to use “all things for our good and for His glory”, that is what will happen. If we dwell on how hard it is for too long, it ends up hurting and not helping. There is a therapeutic time to rest, reflect, and recover from difficult or even tragic events in life. But even when we haven’t recovered yet, we can still trust God to be there in every moment to help and guide us.
There is a saying that I liked, then didn’t because it got so overused that I became numb to it. It is “let go and let God”. It has a good message, but because it was used so much, and because some used it to pacify whomever they were talking to instead of truly listening with compassion, it had become more of saying of toxic positivity. The message that originated before this saying still rings true. Some things in our lives we must let God reign and take lead. He knows all. And we will all meet Him soon. Until then, let God control the things you can’t and shouldn’t control, and you do what you can.
Coffee with Candee 