Baby the Rain Must Fall
Ecclesiastes9: 11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.
Solomon was a son of King David. The Bible records that he was endowed by God with more wisdom than anyone before or since his time. Reading the books in the Bible that were written by him, it is easy to understand why he was declared to be a man of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes is one of the books that history reports as having been written by Solomon. The twelve chapters of this book are dedicated to explaining some of the mysteries of life. You may have quoted his writings at one time or another, and not known where the quote came from. Solomon is the man who wrote, “There is a time to be born, and a time to die”. He is the one who said, “Cast your bread upon the water, and it will return after many days”.
As Solomon looked around him, at everyday life, he realized that sometimes life was not fair. Strangely enough, as we look back at history, basically man has not changed very much at all. We still experience things at times that may seem unfair and we wonder why we have to go through the things we experience. Some people become depressed, some drink or do drugs in a vain attempt to make things better, and others just seem to shake it off, and keep on trucking, in spite of what they are going through.
When we read this verse from the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes, we see that Solomon was commenting on things that happen to us. Notice that he says, “the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong (mighty)”. Just because your are running out in front of the pack at this very moment, doesn’t mean that you are the leader, or will still be there tomorrow. It could mean that others, seeing things you don’t see, are holding back until the smoke clears away. I remember one particular night, during a firefight where the enemy was doing a good job of keeping our heads down, that a young office decided it was time to move out. Suddenly rising up, in the hail of green tracers, he raised his forty-five, and yelled, “follow me men”. Fortunately, he only took a round through the wrist, before he fell back to the safety of the bunker. He had good intentions, and felt the urge to lead the pack, but in his enthusiasm, he didn’t consider the unwavering firepower of the enemy.
Life is like that. We are running the race, everything is going well, and then the battle turns against us. You try to save a little money for that extra do-dad to put on your scooter, or buy a new tire, and bam, stuff happens. The car won’t start, the water heater goes out, your mother-in-law moves in, and suddenly you are in sticky, foul-smelling stuff up to your ears. Don’t laugh; it happens to everyone at some time or other.
The Bible tells us that these things were written for your education, help, and correction to help us make it through life. The things that Solomon wrote are as true today, as they were three-thousand years ago. If you are alive, stuff happens! The solution is not to throw up your hands, and curse everything and everybody around you. The solution is here in the Word of God, the holy Book we call the Bible.
Jesus said, “Come unto me, you that have heavy burdens and have been kicked in the teeth by the things life throws at you”. Facing life’s problems are as simple as turning your life over to God, and let him begin to have control in this race that you are running, or the battle that you are facing. Victory is not to the swift, or to the mighty man of battle, it’s to those that are willing to trust God and let him fight your battles, and strengthen you in the race.
In the Wind,
Double D