Time and Chance

This morning a phrase I recognized as Biblical kept coming to my mind. I looked it up and found it to be the latter part of Ecclesiastes 9:11 – “time and chance happeneth to them all.”

This seems to be a strange phrase for a Bible verse. Does the Bible really say that? Bad luck happens to us all? Old age and pure dumb luck happen to the best of us. Sounds kind of pessimistic, doesn’t it?

Actually the entire book of Ecclesiastes seems to be written by the pen of someone who is down on his luck and bummed out about life. The writer laments about life being too short, life having the same boring routine, and a number of other things that come from the pen of a seemingly depressed person. So why is this in the Bible anyway? Some people think the Bible is supposed to be all feel good stories and inspirational quotes.

Truthfully, the Bible is more about reality than inspiration. The writers of the scripture, especially the poets of the Old Testament, painted an accurate picture of what life on this earth is like. They did not try to sugarcoat the truth or make men and women look holier than they were. We read about the ups and the down, the failures and the shortcomings, right along with the victories. We see heroes of the faith at their best and at their worst. We understand through their writings that life can get complicated and messy.

The writer of Ecclesiastes lays out to us the woes of a human being in mental and emotional turmoil. Far from being a sad treatise, however, the book should give us hope. We should understand that none of us is alone when we are feeling down. As the writer so aptly puts it, time and chance happens to us all. We all have good days and bad days. We all have fortune and misfortune; none of us is exempt.

The recent death of a loved one has left me thinking about how short life is. Another Old Testament poet, the author of the book of Job, tells us that a man’s days are few and full of trouble (Job 14:1, paraphrased). No matter how handsome or beautiful a young person may be, they will one day have wrinkles and aching bones. The youth often like to pick on those who are older about being old. The one thing that is sure is that all of us will get old if we live long enough. Old age (time) happens to us all.

The circumstances of life also happen to us all. The writer calls it chance while many of us would call it bad luck. Whatever we call it, life happens. We get flat tires, we loose our jobs, a loved one gets sick, you name it. Life happens to us all.

As I thought about this verse this morning, rather than being frustrated, I was comforted. I have been having a hard time with the fact that my relative was taken from us so young. Though none of us is perfect, she was a special person. She always had a kind word, a smile, and a listening ear for everyone around her. She was good and gentle to the bottom of her soul. She loved children and was especially patient with those who were struggling. It seems like with her death, a light has gone out in the world. Though I would not wish her back, I wonder that the day is not physically darker without her here to help the sun brighten it.

Some might ask why God allowed the sickness that took her from us. Some might be angry. I have found myself repeating the phrase that life isn’t fair. Yet in all this I cannot blame God. As his word says, time and chance happens to us all. We live in a fallen world where people get old and die. It wasn’t meant to be that way in the beginning but sin has taken its toll on all of us for thousands of years.

I could be tempted to ask God why he didn’t heal my loved on. I could wonder if our faith wasn’t strong enough or a thousand other things. Yet I know this is not true. She had a pure, childlike faith and believed God for her healing until the end. No, faith has little to do with it. I can only speculate about why God has healed others and didn’t heal her. One thing I do know, it was through no fault of her own or anyone else. It was the cruel taskmaster of time and chance that happens to us all.

You might wonder how this idea has given me peace. How can I be content in knowing that all of us will die? How can I be secure in knowing that I am not exempt from the struggles of life? The reason is because my hope is not anchored in this world. I have peace and joy to know that God is with me no matter what time or chance may send my way. The joy that Christ brings is able to endure any affliction I may encounter in this life. And ultimately I know that I will be reunited with my loved ones who have gone before.

When we hear of tragedy striking, it is easy to tell ourselves that it will never happen to us. I am not naïve enough to think this. I am no more worthy of God’s love than any of my fellow humans that inhabit this planet with me. Though I do not live in fear, I realize that time and luck happen to all of us and I must be prepared. How? By making sure that my relationship with Jesus is intact daily. When all is well with my soul I can handle anything that time or chance sends because Jesus is always with me.

Some Christians feel like their lives should be forever perfect after they are saved. This is an unrealistic expectation. Nothing is perfect in this life. The more we understand this, the happier we will be. We will learn to treasure the good times and rejoice in hope during the hard times. We would all be truly blessed to understand that, though time and chance happen to us all, God is ever gracious and knows how to sustain us.

Sincerely,

Spanish Pastor Jones

La Cuenta, Por Favor!

Several years ago my wife and I were enjoying lunch with some co-workers in the city of Chetumal, Mexico when a discussion about the bill came up. We wanted to ask the waiter about it but suddenly no one could remember the Spanish word for check or bill. Despite the fact that there were four fairly fluent Spanish speakers at the table, all of whom had lived in Spanish speaking countries for some time, our minds drew a complete blank. To our defense, we were living in Belize at the time where there are multiple languages spoken daily and our Spanish was rusty.

As we sat there trying to remember the right word we came up with several different scenarios. Someone suggested “factura” and another said, “No, that means invoice.” We guessed a couple of  other words, getting frustrating and laughing at ourselves, because we couldn’t come up with the right word. Finally, when the waiter came by, one of the ladies held up the check and asked, “Cómo se llama esto?” “What do you call this?” The waiter laughed and said, “la cuenta.” We then felt silly for not remembering such a common word.

The situation seems funny now. Four people suddenly drew a blank about such a common word. The answer was simple, really – ask the expert. We were in a Spanish speaking country and we could ask anyone around us. Even a child would have known the answer to the question because it was his language. As I ponder this, I am reminded of how simple things can cause such great confusion in our lives. All of us arrive at places in our lives where we are not quite sure what to do about something. Perhaps we have a decision to make about a job change. Maybe we need to know how to handle a rebellious teenager or a difficult co-worker. Life is full of questions.

Not all of the answers can be found by simply waiving the check in the air and asking, “what do call this?” Yet God has put people around us who can help. Many people, upon facing difficulties in their lives, never think to ask a pastor or an elder about their situation. We tend to talk things over with our peers who are often in the same boat we are in. II Corinthians 10:2 teaches us that it is not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves this way. There is wisdom in counsel, but only when the counselor is giving good advice. The worst thing someone can do is take bad advice.

How do we know what good advice is? Good advice will always line up with the word of God. Good advice will come from the mouths of those who have dedicated their lives to the work of God and are seeking to follow him. An example that comes to mind has to do with church attendance. It is easy to let someone who doesn’t go to church tell you why you don’t have to be part of a church. The wise thing, however, would be to read the scripture and see what it says about church attendance. If you are not sure how to find the answers you need in scripture, ask an elder who has proven himself or herself faithful to the word of God. This is just one example among many. The same goes for child rearing, financial matters, and marriage issues.

In the case of the Spanish-speaking waiter that day, all of us were sure that he knew what he was talking about. After all, Spanish was his native language and he worked in a restaurant. No doubt he used the word “cuenta” many times in a day. Now I understand that none of us has all the answers. But there are people who have given themselves to the word, to the ministry, and to prayer and can give us wise counsel.  I would rather seek advice from someone that has done this than from someone who hasn’t opened a Bible in years. After all, making wise choices based on the word of God can save us a lot of heartache.

Sincerely,

Sullivan Jones