Why?

“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

Emily Conner, (https://www.scarymommy.com), cites a University of Michigan, study explaining the reason why preschoolers ask so many “whys.” Like, “Mom, why is the moon following us?” or “Why should I wear my pants?” Well, it could be one of the following reasons:

The need to know: For a little child who is still coming to terms with the world, everything is overwhelming — hence the need to know.

Attention seeking: According to INSEAD professor and questioning expert Hal Gregerson, child asks why over and over again either because we do not understand their question or are not listening to them. When we answer the wrong question it creates confusion, resulting in...more questions.

Defiance: Sometimes a child’s why is just a way of being defiant “Why should I brush my teeth?”. However, getting angry is just going to make the situation worse. Rather than saying, “Because I tell you to,” explain what happens if your child doesn’t brush their teeth.

Life is filled with curiosities and uncertainties. We all would like clarification at one time or another. It’s important to remember that many of the things that rest in the mind of God are inexplicable to the human heart. When we ask God “why”, and don’t receive a satisfying answer we have a few options; did God already answer this in scripture and I just wasn’t paying attention? Am I being stubborn and hoping for a different answer? Do I really need to know?

One thing we know for sure, God rarely says “because I said so.” We are assured that “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).  Solomon says sometimes we simply need to get on with our lives, doing what we know to do, and content ourselves with the reality that we don’t need to know everything. And, according to a poll by American research firm Gallup, children ask fewer questions as they grow up...

Live boldly out there today...

Mind your mouth...

“Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.” Ecclesiastes 10:20

The Tenth Chapter reads like An episode of “Things my Mother Taught Me.”

• When you dig a well, you might fall in.
• When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake.
• When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you.
• When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax.
• Using a dull ax requires great strength,so sharpen the blade.
• That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.
• If a snake bites before you charm it, what’s the use of being a snake charmer?
• Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words.
• Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.

All of it seems full of common sense and we aren’t even tempted to debate the issues or tempt fate, but...wait! The smartest man in the history of the world closes with a lesson we find almost impossible to learn; “Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.”

I remember being told a story about a chaplain I’d never met. The story was unflattering and I said “if that’s true, he will never get promoted again.” The story was true, my prediction was not. Five years later he became my boss and he confronted my about my comment. How did he know? Why did he care? It doesn’t matter. He made it his mission to make my life miserable. And, he was pretty successful.

It doesn’t matter that he was petty and vindictive...it was my fault, the moment I opened my mouth five years earlier. Wouldn’t it be great if I only had to learn that lesson once? Well, that was neither the first nor the last time for me. Why does this seem to be the most difficult lesson to learn? 

Ashley Evans (https://biblereasons.com) says one of the ways that the Bible talks about the tongue, or the words that we speak, is by warning us about the sins of the tongue. Our words can injure others. Our tongue is one of our most dangerous weapons. What is worse, our words can reveal the sinful nature of our heart. 

Two of the Ten Commandments speak specifically about sins committed with the tongue: using the Lords name in vain, and bearing false witness against someone else (Exodus 20:7, 16.) Also, Jesus Himself warned us about the dangers of using our tongue rashly. Other sins of the tongue include boasting, licentious language, being critical, double-tongued, explosive uncontrolled angry words, hateful speech, or purposefully using obscure words to hide on a significant issue.

Proverbs 6:16-19 says “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush to evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” That puts capricious speech in pretty serious company. It’s possible the turmoil in our lives is not because somebody is “out to get us.” It’s possible our untamed tongue already “got” us.

My favorite is Proverbs 26:20 “Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.” Don’t feed the beast!

Live boldly out there today...

You’re Working on the Wrong Life

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11

The best team doesn’t always win...

Joe Namath may have been confident that the Jets were going to beat the Colts, but nobody else was. Vegas had New York as an 18-point underdog. And for good reason: Baltimore was a dominant team in a better league. It had lost only one game going into the Super Bowl. But it had also lost Johnny Unitas going into the game. Unitas was nicked up so Earl Morrall got the start for Baltimore and struggled. A hobbled Unitas eventually got into the game and led the Colts to their only touchdown.

Super Bowl III: Jets 16, Colts 7...ask any Minnesota Viking fan if that isn’t a big deal!

We’ve all experienced it on some occasion; we did everything right but our marriage failed, while our our self centered neighbor appears to enjoy an idyllic marriage. We raised our children in the church and they still walked away, while an atheist friend’s child comes to devout faith. We posted the best productivity numbers at work and were still let go, while the marginal performer somehow got a performance award. 

It’s not just our imagination. It rains on both the just and the unjust...

Its not fair, but...according to Solomon, God never designed life to be fair. He designed us to seek Him, please Him and live in fellowship with him. Beyond that, there is little difference between any of us. “The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.” Joseph Mengele was a an evil monster while Billy Graham was a modern day saint. They’re both dead...at least in terms of the life we understand on this earth, but we all know...neither is really dead. 

So, what’s Solomon’s point? When Solomon makes his claim he is talking about the vanity of investing all our resources as though this is the only life we will ever have.  What a waste of effort. Think about it; Abraham is gone, King David is gone, Caesar is gone, Hannibal is gone, Charlemagne is gone, Lincoln is gone, D. L. Moody is gone, Hitler is gone. Unless they laid up some treasure in Heaven, everything they accomplished on earth is gone with them. I imagine, right now, Hitler would trade his Third Reich for a chance to occupy Corrie Ten Boom’s place in Heaven...even though he regarded her as less than a dog when they were both here.

This begs the question; to what end are we working? Youngest CEO ever? Most expensive house ever? Richest man ever?  Will God be impressed when we arrive at the Pearly Gates with our U-Haul  full of accomplishments? No. So, living for this earthly life and working to make something out of it is a fools errand. Solomon advises “go ahead, eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Wear nice clothes, with a splash of cologne! Live happily with the woman you love for she is God’s gift to you.”

So...to whom does the race go? It goes to the ones who invest their lives in following hard after God and acknowledging His Son. When you’re 72 you think about these things...

Live boldly out there today...