TIME AND CHANCE

At the end of all the wealth, fame, power and spiritual failures, the great king Solomon became a preacher whose wisdom God uses even now to educate and admonish the people of God.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

We do not know the things that will befall us in the run of a day or the course of a night. In fact, it is not given to us to know all that is in our future nor the hour of our departure from this world. Wisdom dictates that these things be hidden from us, that we may be ready in that day and hour. Nevertheless, it is certain that time and chance will happen to us all.

That which we refer to as chance, is really events moving according to the determinate counsel of God. Time is simply a manifestation of the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, it is the intent of the Father to make all to know that many are the plans of a man, but it is the purpose of God that shall prevail. I think some of us forget this principle.

We tend to live as if we are in control of our days and nights, secured and protected from any evils of this age. However, it is the good pleasure of God’s will to break our security, destroy our secret hopes and shatter our dreams in order that we may know that all things are according to His divine will.

Ecclesiastes 9:12

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

We do not know when calamity, a fall or death will land in our house. Sometimes God will allow great trouble to be injected into the things that bring us great satisfaction and/or advantage over others; just as fish and birds are lured into snares, so are the Sons of God snared by the evil in their own hearts.

This darkness in the heart is an urgent request for trouble to be poured into the things we cherish most. We are never secure from God. We are vulnerable and always exposed to Him. Let us not confuse Him with those who may try to peep into our dispositions, aspirations, motives and sins. He sees them all and will respond accordingly.

Although our relationships with others may be used to reveal our true self, this revelation of our spiritual location has nothing to do with others. It is about our relationship with the Father. He will use Time and Chance to perfect us in the knowledge of Christ. That means He will lead and guide us into situations wherein there are opportunities for us to glorify Him through the Christ within.

A LITTLE CITY

Ecclesiastes 9:13-14

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

I want you to think about what motivated the king to attack the little city. It was not a threat to him; neither could it supply him with much substance or population. But it existed. It was there. The king felt a need to possess it. As sad as it is, many in the Body have a need to possess or control the will of another.

This little city could be a small saint, (someone who has no position or authority in the church, or it could be someone whose position is small in regard to that of the leaders). Though the city was small with little population, the great king felt a need to dominate and possess it even if it meant destroying it. Therefore, he built great weapons against it, very much like leaders who use their stockpiles of weapons against the people of God. These weapons are fashioned in many forms. ·

Material substance: This is the most common weapon used to control others. Oftentimes saints will do for another in order to be the one to make decisions the saint should make for themselves. They allow the saint to become dependent upon their guidance. Thus, they overstep their boundaries by controlling their every move. Experience over the years has revealed to me that this relationship becomes very strained when a spouse comes into the picture. Hence, when the victim gets married, the new spouse quite often discerns the unhealthiness of the relationship and rebels in his or her heart and mind against it.

Sometimes they can be quite vocal about it to their mate, especially when the controller seeks to bring them under the same control. Because it is instinctive for a husband and wife relationship to be private and sacred in love and trust, a third party dictating the daily actions and life decisions can place an unnecessary strain on the marriage. We are not talking about righteous counsel here. This is dictation and is not the way of the gospel. Discern this; the controller would never give anyone else that kind of access to his or her own marriage. ·

Knowledge and Intellect: These, too, are weapons used to cripple saints. Oftentimes, saints may not be knowledgeable in spiritual or natural things. Leaders sometimes use this to their advantage as they begin to instruct in secular things with the same fervency they do with spiritual things. They need the individual to depend upon their knowledge and intelligence about things they may just be coming into. ·

Power and Authority: These can always be used as weapons of penalty. When saints do not respond to the counsel (regarding issues not pertaining to right or unrighteousness), of those who may have position or authority in the church, they are often penalized and blacklisted. It is an awful thing for us to use the grace God has poured out in our lives to block others from enjoying the liberty of their own decisions.

Ecclesiastes 9:15

Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

It was not by power or might that the city was delivered. It was by the wisdom of a poor man. This is the ancient principle that has become all but completely lost from the gospel of the kingdom. God uses ordinary people.

There is no guarantee that he who runs fastest will receive the prize. Nor is it a certainty that those who are strong in resources such as wealth and influential connections will be the ones to glorify the Lord. But there are sets of poor but wise leaders who have fought to maintain and keep the interests of the Father alive in the hearts of the people they serve.

APUBLIC SPIRIT IN A PRIVATE SPHERE

You must continue to follow the principle here. This poor man was not a part of the city council. Neither did he have a say-so in any of the goings on of the city whether in peril or peace. He was a poor man and thought to be totally insignificant in the scheme of things at hand. Nevertheless, this poor man had a public spirit in a private sphere. He lived in the city. It was his home as well.

Though not sought after (this is what made his sphere of influence private; no one ventured into the world of the poor for advice or counsel), the city needed the wisdom God had endowed him with. Having a great love for the city and the inhabitants, (who no doubt would have no dealings with him), he used the wisdom of God to bring deliverance to them.

But the principle goes on. He was not remembered by the people of the city. Therefore, he was just as poor after he brought their deliverance as he was before the attack. And might I add, just as content. The point here is that we work not for the things that man can bestow upon us in this present world, but for the joy of glorifying the Father on the earth with the wisdom and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The preaching of the gospel is not to make us wealthy or even notable among the rich and famous. The rewards for serving the Lord and bringing deliverance to the lost and hopeless are laid up for us in heaven. The material things we receive now are tools to help us spread the gospel. They are not rewards for keeping the faith. That prize is not given until the race is over.