11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
How interesting that we come onto these verses right now when all the pretrials for the Olympics are being played on social media. The best of the best compete against each other and we think we know who the favored winner is but there is always a chance that someone has a bad day. The judges don’t always score the way we think. The movie “Cool Runnings” featuring the Jamaican bobsled team is great fun. We cheer for the underdog.
The Teacher goes on to point out other “twists of fate.” A clever general may win a battle over a stronger opponent. The recession saw many college grads without work. Education no longer guarantees a better paying job. Talent and trade skills are also good jobs. Life is just not always predictable. One of the idioms I like is when we talk about “going down a rabbit hole” that calls to mind Alice falling down a rabbit hole that leads her to an unexpected place. We might talk about going on “a wild goose chase.” Sometimes we end up in places we had not planned on.
The Biblical story that we learned about as children is David and Goliath. Goliath thinks he is the best warrior and challenges the army of Saul to send out someone to decide the battle by those two fighting. The army of the winner will serve the country of the other. Goliath is 7 feet tall and is the apparent stronger. Saul’s army is terrified. David comes in from tending the sheep and offers to fight. With his sling shot and five smooth stones he falls the giant. But what we remember is his cry,
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1 Samuel 17:45”
As we deal with the unpredictability in the midst of life’s battles, it is a great comfort that we have an unseen Savior fighting with us. Blessings as you tackle your challenges today.
On the Way to Wonder 