Time and Chance

So much of the conversation we carry on with ourselves is useless. And by conversation, I mean that constant voice of comparing our lives to others. We did this before social media but far more distant. Today we are in each other's lives far too intrusively to make endless measurements our constant state of play. 

Look at what Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 9:

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (ESV) Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

First, he begins with the word, "Again". Solomon is picking up the constant refrain of what he noticed when looking at life "under the sun." And here he notes what's inevitable and often unmentioned. Time and chance have a LOT to do with what happens to us. 

Some people are billionaire successes. Why? Because they met the right teacher or mentor at the right time to develop the right product. 

Some brilliant ones are never heard of and live a lower-class status. Why? Because of an accident or event that sabotaged an otherwise promising life. Time and chance happen to us all. 

So what's the lesson? Stop comparing. Start seeing people for their stories and not their "glories" or shame. Understanding your lack of success or great success compared to theirs doesn't define you. And if you serve God's purposes long enough, the right time and place will come for the purpose of His glory and not your own. 

Live with that in mind because the end is inevitable and your life isn't really about you. So says Solomon.

Ecclesiastes 9:12 (ESV) For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Then Solomon shares a story:

Ecclesiastes 9:13–16 (ESV) I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

Doesn't this story seem out of place? Why is Solomon bringing it up here? Because the time and chance of life may cause us to miss the important things, even the most important thing. When I consider a poor wise man who saves a city and goes largely unremembered I cannot help but see Christ in that story. He's the author of our lives and the source of our very existence and salvation. But even with the billions who call Him Lord, He is often the most neglected and forgotten person in history. Consider how atheists blissfully write the date not realizing the very year is defined by His time on Earth. 

So what does that mean for your life? It means that if you know Him and love Him, your life is far more than just time and chance. You are one of those for whom God aligned the stars to reach. Your life has meaning, purpose, and a glorious ending. It means that even when you lose a race here, your finish line is secure in heaven.