You Do Not Know God's Work

[Read Ecclesiastes 11:1-6]

We continue to live in a time of uncertainty. Many aspects of our normal lives have been “thrown up in the air.” We can no longer do many of the things we want to do in the way we want to do them. We try to make plans about what we will do over the next month, but every plan we make is contingent on COVID (We don’t know what will happen). Even our work-life and school-life hangs in uncertainty. We don’t know whether we’ll get the virus and have to quarantine for a while. And it doesn’t matter if we get the virus, we may come into contact with someone who has the virus and have to quarantine for two weeks. Living “in the balance” can get really exhausting. It can wear on us. I can also cause us to live our lives over-cautiously—over-protective. 

It’s because we just don’t know what is going to happen in the future. Again, the author of Ecclesiastes says, “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5, ESV). We do not know the work of God. We don’t know what He is doing and is planning to do. We just don’t know what is going to happen in the future. 

And the reality is, this can paralyze us. That’s why the author says, “If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” (Ecclesiastes 11:3–4, NIV). His point is that the weather is going to do what the weather is going to do. Nature is going to do what nature is going to do. And, if you’re always watching which way the wind is going to blow—waiting for the perfect time—you’ll never end up planting your seed. If you spend all of your time examining the sky, looking at the clouds—waiting for the perfect time to harvest your fields, you’ll never end up harvesting. If you’re always waiting for the perfect conditions to do something, you’ll never do anything because the perfect conditions never come. 

You have to take some risks. You have to step out in faith at times. That’s why the author says, “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1, NIV). This was a major risk at this stage in history. They didn’t have The Weather Station to predict the weather for the next month. They didn’t have motors to propel their ships when the wind died down. They didn’t know when storms were going to rise up that may destroy their ship, causing them to lose their entire investment. This is why the floor of the Mediterranean sea is covered with the remains of sunken ships. They just didn’t know what was going to happen. 

It would have been easier for them to keep their ships in the port and never send them out. It would have been safer, more cautious. Someone could have even made the argument that it was WISER to leave the ships in the port because they didn’t know what was going to happen. Yet, the author of Ecclesiastes says that’s not the case. If your ships stay in the port—if you’re always playing it safe—you never get the chance to reap a big reward. 

Yet, he says that we shouldn’t be foolish in our risk taking, either. He says, “Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” (Ecclesiastes 11:2, NIV). This is advice you hear from many investors today: Make sure you diversify. Spread your investments out a bit just in case one goes bad. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You may end up losing everything if disaster strikes. So, take some risks, but spread some of those risks out as a safety measure. 

The reality is that we can never truly live “Risk Free” in the world. It’s an impossible task. You cannot get out of bed in the morning “risk free.” You cannot drive to work each day “risk free.” You cannot eat your food, or pay your bills, or clean your house risk free. That’s not the world we live in. God did not create the world “child-proof.” The world is filled with sharp corners, open electrical sockets, and drawers that we should be careful opening. It’s a risky world we live in. 

And, to build upon that, we’re not called to live “risk free” in this world. We’re not called to “play it safe.” Think about this statement from Jesus to his disciples, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3, NIV). Sounds risky doesn’t it? We are lambs and he is sending us out to preach the gospel to a pack of wolves. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a risky endeavor. It sounds like some little lambs are going to get bitten. It sounds like the lambs may want to hold a committee meeting to decide whether it is wise for them to go out among the wolves—it sounds risky, it sounds unwise. But Jesus told them to do it. He told them to take the risk because we were never called to live “risk free” in this life. Those who try to live “risk free” in the world are fools. I know that sounds strong, but that’s the point of this passage. Those who are always playing it safe are fools. The wise person takes some risks because that is the world God has created. 

Remember Jesus’ parable about taking risks? He told the parable of a man who went on a journey and divided up his money between three servant. In today’s terms, he gave one servant $6 million, another $2.4 million, and another $1.2 million. Two of them took risks with the money and doubled their investment. But what did the third servant do? He said, “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’” (Matthew 25:24–25, NIV). He didn’t know what would happen. He worried that he would lose it all. He didn’t see the perfect conditions to invest the money. He played it safe—refused to take a risk. And the master responds by saying, “You wicked, lazy servant!” (Matthew 25:26, NIV). 

Part of taking risks is trying new things. The author writes, “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 11:6, NIV). He says you need to keep trying different things and working hard. Sow seed in the morning, and try something else in the evening. You don’t know which one will prosper. Maybe the seed planted in the morning will prosper, maybe the work you did in the evening will prosper, maybe both. You don’t know. So, keep on trying different things. Keep on working hard. Don’t be lazy. Eventually, something is going to prosper. 

This speaks against one of our biggest fears: failure. We can be so afraid of failing that we never try anything new or never try anything difficult. We just settle for mediocre because that is easier and “safer” and we don’t risk failing. Yet, here’s the reality, the moment we settle for mediocre, we’ve begun to fail. The moment we decide to “play it safe” and live “risk free,” we’ve failed. The business that stops moving forward will die. The church that stops challenging itself will die. In order to be successful, in order to prosper, you actually have to fail sometimes. Sometimes you have to fail over and over and over again. And that’s the point of the author. You need to keep trying different things, you have to keep working hard, you have to accept failure, and you have to move on. The fool refuses to accept this, but the wise accept this and even cherish it.

Here’s why we don’t need to fear failure: God is in control. That’s what the author reminds us of in verse five. He tells us that we “cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5, NIV). God is the maker of all things. He is in control of all things. If something is going to prosper, it will prosper because God is the one who made it prosper. And because we don’t know why God does the things He does, and because we don’t understand the plan God is carrying out, we have to do two things. We have to keep seeking Him in prayer, begging him for wisdom and guidance in this life. Then, we have to step out in faith, take some risks, try some things, and see if God is going to prosper it. If an endeavor fails, we don’t have to crumble into despair because we know God is in control. If it fails, it’s because God wanted it to fail—and we can rest in that. God has a different plan. So, seek Him again, ask for wisdom and guidance, take a risk, and try something different—maybe try a few things different—diversify.

Here’s a principle that we can never forget as Christians. In 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul writes, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6, NIV). Paul planted the seeds of the Corinthian church. Apollos followed him and watered those seeds. But the only reason those seeds grew was because of God. God is the one who brings the growth. God is the one who makes things prosper. Success doesn’t lie in our hands. But FAITHFULNESS does. We can’t control whether something will be successful. All we can do is keep taking wise risks, keep working hard, keep trying new things, keep seeking God, and live each day trusting Him—patiently waiting for him to make something grow. 

Now, this passage is primarily speaking about our finances and business transactions BUT I think there is a lot here for us to consider as a congregation, too. Because of all the uncertainty in the world, because of all the “risk” in the world, we are faced with a great temptation. We are being tempted to play it safe, live risk free, and do nothing. We may even try to justify it by saying, “God is in control. Why would I have to do anything?” We may even worry about trying to start something new as a church because it may fail in these uncertain times. We may try to hold onto aspects of ministry that are failing because we’re afraid of admitting failure—so we keep holding onto them, dragging them around.

This passage is challenging us as a congregation to take some wise risks in the midst of this pandemic. It’s reminding us that if we’re always waiting for the perfect conditions to start something, then we’ll never start anything. We’ll do nothing. This passage is reminding us that we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future AND THAT’S THE REASON WHY we need to take some risks and try some new things. So what if they fail. So what if they fall flat on their face. When that happens, we go back to God, ask for more guidance and wisdom, and try again. 

Right now is the perfect time to work hard and try some new things. We’re being forced to do things differently. We’re being forced to think outside the box. We’re being forced to take some risks. We have no idea what God is going to do—what He’s going to make grow—so let’s keep trying, and keep failing, until we figure it out. 

Rather than focusing on the things that we can no longer do, on the things COVID has taken from us, on the way COVID has made things non-normal, ask the question: What has COVID made possible? What is possible NOW that wasn’t possible before COVID hit? What ministries in our church need to “die” so that they can rise again into something different? What ministry has God laid on your heart? AND What’s stopping you from pursuing it? Take a wise risk and go after it. What’s the worst that can happen? You fail? So what. Try again!

You see, one of the most powerful aspects of the Christian faith comes from our salvation in Jesus Christ. Because Christ has paid our debt, because Christ has set us free, because Christ has made us new and brought us into the family of God, we don’t have to worry about failure. Most people worry about failure because they are always trying to measure up, always trying to prove their worth to the world, always trying to earn their salvation through their success. Well, guess what? In Christ, you no longer have to earn your salvation, the debt has been fully paid. In Christ, you no longer have to prove your worth to the world, because you are a child of God and, in Christ, he sees you as ultimately worthy. In Christ, you no longer have to worry about measuring up all the time. You can simply rest in His salvation. So what if you fail? You’re still God’s child. You’re still redeemed. You’re still being made holy. Your identity doesn’t rest on these things. Your identity rests on our immovable, unshakeable Savior Jesus Christ. So, rest in him, step out in faith, take some wise risks, and try something new. Who knows how God may prosper it?