Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 (Truth #2-Mysterious Plan)

¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

We have many "why" questions, don't we?  

Just this morning I read in the paper where a boy I went to elementary and middle school with, who lived in a rough home, who was always a bit overweight, who had no friends and was consistently bullied, ended up becoming an abuser and just offered money to a co-worker to kill his wife for him.  This boy, who is now a man, is currently in jail with a $1 million bond.

Why, God?  He didn't get to pick his home life.  He didn't get to choose whether he wanted to fit in or not.  He was just a little boy last time I saw him.  Why?

...and that's just the why question that came to my mind first this morning.  There are many personal ones that I've shared with you, too, of deaths to soon, changes in relationships, and people I love who hurt deeply.  Why?

He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

The thing is, deep in our hearts, we know that there is more than meets the eye in this life.  We know that what we see before us is here for an instant and then gone, like a vapor.  We can sense our own unsettledness. But God doesn't enable us to always "get it."

God's plan is wise, but it is also mysterious.

He has made it so that we cannot see everything He is doing, and we don't see the big picture -- only He does.  But even still His mysterious plan is meant to sound like a symphony, a mysterious and beautiful intermingling of the black keys and white keys in our lives.

Yet, even when we recognize God's work in our lives, we still try to squint our eyes and figure out all the little details of the whys and the things we can't see.  I know God has a plan for my life, but I still want to know why I was born this way or why my parent treated me this way, or why I am missing out on a blessing I see befalling someone else.

So we keep squinting, but we still can't see it.

As one author said, "There is a deep-seated, compulsive drive to transcend our mortality by knowing the meaning and destiny of life."

Sometimes I do wonder what exactly we humans, scientists and doctors, professors and philosophers, are doing exactly.  Why do we even think that we could find out the meaning and destiny of life?  Like a dandelion trying to figure out how to drive a car are we when we try to understand the ornate, supreme plans of God and the complete meaning and destiny of our life.  Doesn't that sound like a question that really only God Himself could answer? 

And He does somewhat -- throughout the narratives, poetry, and expository literature of the Bible.  We see an over-arching plan and a story that has been going on for centuries -- God's story.  But trust me, I've looked, there is not a book in the Bible titled This is the Meaning and Destiny of Your Life.  There are truths, principles, promises, and a whole lot of love, but not a Cliff notes version of the destiny of each specific life.  There are many answers to questions within the pages of Scripture, but there are some specific questions involving our lives that are left unanswered.

Sometimes there is just plain evil in the world.  Other times, we pray for something and God doesn't answer it the way we want, or maybe even seem to answer us at all...

We don't get to know all the answers.  There is some mystery there, for which I think God has a great purpose.  He allows things in our lives that are not always pleasing and pleasurable, but they are wise.

And because of that, we must choose to trust Him.

What is a why question you have today?  Are you able to give it to Him and trust Him with His wise plan?

Molly Monroe