Ecclesiastes Archives - Faithfully Stepping

It’s been quite the start to this 2025 year. A presidential change, the fires in LA, the plane crash in DC this week…and it’s only January. I’m reminded of a verse in Ecclesiastes chapter seven.

Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 NLT

Solomon’s Observation

Solomon observes that nothing is certain in this life. That feels like a really bleak way of looking at things. We almost feel like we should throw our hands up in the air and give up. Why even bother?

But to understand the full context, we have to look at the beginning of this verse and the verse that comes before.

Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

Ecclesiastes:13,14 NLT

The Uncertainty of Life

The uncertainty of life is a very real thing. Solomon understood that. He grew up under the reign of David, his father, in a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. His dad was a man of war. Solomon understood war; he understood threats against the kingdom, against his father. He had first-hand knowledge of living in uncertainty. So when he tells us that nothing is certain in this life; he knew that truth himself. He’d lived it.

Acceptance

Solomon teaches us that there is a way to live in spite of this uncertainty in life. It’s called acceptance. Webster’s Dictionary gives a few different definitions of the word acceptance.

1. To receive willingly.

2. To endure without protest or reaction.

We can put those definitions back into the verse, and here’s what we get.

1. Receive willingly the way God does things…

2. Endure without protest or reaction the way God does things…

The Answer to the Uncertainty of Life

The answer to uncertainty in life is to accept the way God does things. We will never understand an infinite God with our finite minds. Consequently, we won’t understand why he does what he does. And that’s okay because he doesn’t ask us to understand; he asks us to accept it.

I love the next verse from Solomon. After we learn to accept the way God does things, Solomon tells us to enjoy prosperity when it comes. When blessings come your way, revel in them; savor them. Remember that we serve a good God that loves to give good gifts.

Find the Good

Solomon adds a caution at the end of the verse. He reminds us that hard times will also come. But when they do, we can choose to accept them and remember that both prosperous times and hard times come from God.

Instead of clinging to uncertainty, find the blessings that God is bestowing on you right now. Look for the good and enjoy it; soak it in. Love on your family, enjoy the income God has provided, travel and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, get a coffee with a good friend, spend time each morning with God in a morning time routin e. Find the good that’s all around you; celebrate that good. Draw close to the One who’s given you those good things. Remember that our relationship with God is more important than anything else.

When we choose to accept His plans and look for the good, we will find ourselves better able to navigate the uncertainty of this world.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check my post, 3 Ways to Remember God’s Goodness When We Forget.

The Creativity in Ecclesiastes

I am currently reading through the book of Ecclesiastes in my morning time routine. Ecclesiastes is quite possibly my favorite book in the Bible; it rates right up there with some of my favorites like I Peter, Psalms, and a few others. As an author and creative, Ecclesiastes resonates with me on that artistic and inspirational level and the creative side of me.

There are a few verses in chapter eleven that I love that are both an inspiration and a challenge to me. The first one is verse 4.

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never plant.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT

Time to Go Forward

When you step out to do whatever it is God has for you, it takes faith. It’s the kind of faith that never really goes away. You have to keep stepping out in faith. You keep taking the next step and the next. If you worry about the what-if’s, you won’t get anywhere. There’s a time to plan and prepare and pray; and then the time comes when you have to simply go do. It may not be perfect, but it’s time to move.

There’s a saying that says, “If you wait for all green lights, you’ll never get anywhere in life.” There comes a point and time where you have to just go.

The Mystery of God’s Activity

A few verses later, the author of Ecclesiastes writes these words:

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Ecclesiastes 11:5,6 NLT

I love the comparison the author gives here. There is so much mystery to a baby being born that we can’t possibly understand the intricacies of it. So it is the same way with God. We can’t possibly know and understand all that he is doing and where and how he is working.

Doing our Creative Part

Then my favorite part comes in verse six. Since we can’t possibly know how God is working, we have to work hard to do our creative part. We must work hard and diversify our work because we don’t know where God is going to bless. Start different ministries, tap into different sources, use your creative ability to create different products, meet more people, and use the abilities God has given you to do the work he’s called you to. We do all this, not knowing which part he is going to bless, or which part will be fruitful.

That’s okay. That’s not our part to know. It’s our part to simply be creative and do the work he’s called us to do to the best of our ability. Then, we watch as God blesses. And if God works in your life in the way he’s worked in mine, it’s never where you think the blessing will come from.

Use Your Creativity

Wherever you’re at today, whatever God has called you to do…don’t give up. It may seem like it’s not worth it. The days are long; the work is hard, and there doesn’t seem to be any reward. Let me encourage you with this: You don’t know where God’s working. You can’t possibly know what God is doing, but you can trust. Simply choose to keep at it; keep using the abilities he’s given you and the creativity he’s gifted you with. You can work hard in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, because you don’t know what or where God is going to bless. But he will bless, and you can trust in that.

Faithfully Stepping

Encouragement for Women on their Journey of Faith

Tag Archives: Ecclesiastes

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