"I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!" (Ecclesiastes 1:13, NIV)
Which is another way of saying that none of us can understand fully the mysteries of the Universe.
The word, "random," is interesting. The dictionary says that in the building trades it means, "without uniformity," e.g., "random size slates." In slang, it means, "a person or thing that is unknown, unidentified, a person or thing that is...unpredictable." It is that, "unpredictable," nature of the Universe, much of what Solomon observed of life, which probably unsettles most "God-has-everything-under-control" people. The more I look at life, the more I see some randomness about it. But allow me to say that "random" is not necessarily the opposite of "order" in God's economy (Greek, "household management"). I am not, however, as the Presbyterian who fell down the steps and said, "Thank God that's over with."
You cannot argue with the life reality which the Ecclesiastes writer states in our text. We may not think so, but when someone asks us a question, what is our response? Do we have "the" answer? Do we understand all things? Was there a "predictability" about the event which a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division told me, the time when a German machine gun opened fire on his patrol and he was the only one of 12 who survived the attack? It just seems to me too easy to say, "Well, there must have been a reason." What if there weren't? Would this unsettle you in your faith?
Maybe the best "answer," if indeed there is one, for the "why-people" is what Jesus told Paul when he prayed and was not receiving the answer he wanted, "My grace is sufficient for you," which means, "is enough for you." It must be. It must be if we are to continue to walk in Jesus Christ in this journey. Do not attempt to find something beyond Jesus' Grace; there is none. Life is an accumulation of events for which we have no answer to anyone's, "Why?" Maybe those "Hard Questions" experts should have the nerve to say at times, "We don't know."
If anyone lives, "I applied my mind to study and to explore...all that is done under the heavens", they will have to come to the same conclusion as in our text, "What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!"
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for the life-sustaining power in, "My grace is sufficient for you." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
