Ecc. 11:5–Thank God You Don't Know

Ecclesiastes 11:5–"As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything."

Praise God for miracles!  Praise God for babies!  Praise God for His endless, amazing creativity in creation!

If I have uttered it a million times, it has not been enough.

Humanity is brilliant in its creativity and intellect, clever in its category and thought, and beautiful in its poetry and language.  But with all this genius and grandeur we still must bow in humility before the God who creates by the power of His voice, the strength of His Word, and can still the storm or swell the wave with but a whisper.

To all of this we can only say:

Praise be to God!

Ecclesiastes 11:5–We Do Not Know All the Work of God

Ecclesiastes 11:5: "As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything."

This is quite a compelling statement.  Think about it: with all our modern medical knowledge of prenatal biology, we still are no nearer understanding how a human being is born body and soul being able to travel into the future.  But yet we humans have some instinctual arrogance to think that while we do not and can not understand every minute detail of the conception-birth ordeal, we must because of our perceived intellectual greatness 'know enough' to claim to know it all.

But this great presumption renders us, it turns out, all the more blind from seeing the truth as it is: God knows.  This is no mere lip-service or parrot-talk.  He actually knows because He actually creates us.  We may claim biological monopoly over the process of egg-fertilization to birth but when the proverbial rubber hits the road God holds all the cards.  This, therefore, must be the starting ground for all discussion about humanity.  After all, what benefit would there be in the ability to communicate if not to communicate with He who ultimately created us?!

Can't Get Out of Work and Why Would You?

We live in a world that is obsessed with the search for comfort and ease.  Consequently, laziness and sloth are at endemic levels as no longer, as it has been in the past, do people reward their hard work with relaxation.  Instead, serenity is considered a sort of birthright, an entitled dispensation.  It is as if work has been deemed evil as laziness has been exalted as good.  

Scripture, however, has another way of dealing with work altogether.  For Scripture, particularly for Solomon, work is not just the drudge of daily life but it is one of the true joys of life (Ecc 5:12, 18).  The reason that work is a joy has far less to do with the what of work than with the why.  The why of work is that God has given us the joy of using our senses and exercising our dignity in the reception of the goods that come from work, i.e. wage, satisfaction, et al.

This is not to say that work and the provision that work affords should ever be allowed to eclipse God either in exaltation or in faith.  Instead, work is to be rightly considered as a component of the grace that God has given to humanity.  Our work is but a medium for God's grace to be conveyed to us.  Let us then take great joy in work and to always give God praise for that joy!

Working because its Right

Over the course of the past couple of decades, America has seen a dramatic change in its work force.  The increase in the technology of distractions (video games, entertainment, etc.) and the growing sense of entitlement has created generations of Americans who either do not know how to work or just don't want to.  It is more than the concept of rest in relation to work.  Rather it is the idea of the value of work.

For starters, there is a significant difference between resting after work, and deciding to be lazy and slothful before ever working at all.  This is a major issue of extreme importance, and if we miss this one, we will never live our lives to the extent that God has for us.

In reality, work and the whole concept of work goes back to the very beginning of time.  When Adam was created, God ordained him for work.  Work marks the days, six on and the seventh off.  It is also work that informs life with purpose and intent.  If we understand that work has not deviated from its origins, then we can begin to understand that to skew our concepts of work isnothing less than disbelief and, dare I say, sin.

For this, the writer of Ecclesiastes, a wise man with wisdom to share, has much to say in this regard:

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil which one toils with under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot (Ecc. 5:18)."

Although this is a single passage of Scripture describing the value of work, particularly the worth of enjoying one's work, it is by no means an isolated instance in which work is esteemed for its value.  Instead, this is just a simple and overarching reality of human life.  We, as humans, are made to work just as work has been made for us.  Assessing the purposes and reasons behind are more than this dialogue permits, suffice to say that it is God's will that we work and work with diligence and enjoyment.

Unfortunately, there have been misconceptions of what constitutes enjoyment in our culture.  Our world has misconstrued enjoyment to mean something less-satisfying and more instantly-gratifying, to the detriment of the good that comes from having to work for enjoyment, namely perseverance and character.  Should it be any wonder, then, why the world is inundated with people who lack character and inner fortitude?  Let us then take joy in the toils under the sun all the days of our lives, knowing that God has made us for this and He has purposes for us through it!