I was born in the deep south—of Canada, that is—although I’m an American citizen now, having lived here much of my life.
Some people spell Canada like this: C eh? N eh? D eh? We’re often betrayed by our habit of adding “eh?” to the end of our sentences. Called an invariant tag, it’s inviting a response and means something like “Don’t you agree?”
When discussing some difficulty in the life of an acquaintance, my grandfather would often conclude with a cryptic “Life, eh?”
Solomon wrote, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11, WEB)
In other words, life doesn’t draw straight lines. The plodding tortoise often beats the erratic hare. Sometimes people are rich and famous just by being self-promoters, while the real heroes are hidden away, selflessly serving for little or no pay in classrooms and homes and country Sunday Schools.
It’s certainly true that time happens to us all. Once glamorous Hollywood starlets, attempting to Botox time’s wrinkles away, end a caricature of their former selves. Old gridiron stand-outs can hardly stand at all any more! Tempus really does fugit.
And chance? Life rarely comes out even. Of course, Solomon was writing from the perspective of being “under the sun.” He wasn’t taking into account that Someone far beyond the sun might have a hand in what only seem to be the random circumstances of life.
However, he also wrote, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:33) Life may seem to be not much more than a roll of the dice, but don’t be fooled by appearances.
Sometimes looking at others, jealousy rises up within, but if we knew the heartaches they carried under their Brooks Brothers suits or their Paris haute couture, we wouldn’t envy them; we’d pray for them.
Years ago, a man attended my Bible lectures. He always seemed to be joking. When he asked me out for lunch, I thought I might chide him for his glibness. But before I could, he took me to see his family. We went to his wife’s grave. Then to a home where he daily washed and clothed his younger son, completely incapacitated. Then to his daughter’s on a ramshackle farm where she sobbed out the story of an abusive husband. His older boy? In jail for kiting checks.
I so badly misjudged the man. He was just trying to survive. Remarkably, he still considered himself greatly blessed. The lives of those who trust the Lord have this guarantee in the Lord’s handwriting, “We know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, BSB)
God specializes in making masterpieces from the dust, stained-glass art, backlit with His glory, from broken shards, and gracious saints from heart-crushed sinners.
He’s also promised that you won’t suffer an ounce more than necessary to remake you like His Son. “He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV)
Christians go through storms in life like everyone else. The big difference—Jesus is with us in the boat!
Article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch, Saturday, January 27, 2024.