14 day plan

Meaningless! Meaningless?

Day 12 of 14

NIV

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

Invest in Many Ventures

1Ship your grain across the sea;

after many days you may receive a return.

2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;

you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

3If clouds are full of water,

they pour rain on the earth.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

4Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

5As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

6Sow your seed in the morning,

and at evening let your hands not be idle,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that,

or whether both will do equally well.

Reflection:  Have you ever felt like you’re in a holding pattern? Like you’re waiting for your “real” life to start – or restart?

The first time this passage really lit up for me, I was in the middle of a gruelling period of job-hunting, unsure of what I might be doing or where I might be living in one or two or six months. What can you commit to – what can you invest in – when the future is so uncertain?

But these verses made it very clear: the future is always uncertain. There is so much we don’t know or understand. Yet our circumstances are not an accident, and there is no such thing as limbo. There is always something for us to invest our time and energies in here and now, where we find ourselves. We do not know the future, but God gives us plenty to do in the present.

Question:  Are you waiting for something to start or stop before you can live your “proper” life? What good can you be doing right now?

Prayer:  Lord God, Maker of all things, you alone know what’s coming in the weeks and years ahead. Grant me peace in uncertainty, and the hope needed to apply myself diligently to the tasks you set before me here and now. Amen.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

Days

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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10

Invest in Many Ventures

1Ship your grain across the sea;

after many days you may receive a return.

2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;

you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

3If clouds are full of water,

they pour rain on the earth.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

4Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

5As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

6Sow your seed in the morning,

and at evening let your hands not be idle,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that,

or whether both will do equally well.

Remember Your Creator While Young

7Light is sweet,

and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

8However many years anyone may live,

let them enjoy them all.

But let them remember the days of darkness,

for there will be many.

Everything to come is meaningless.

9You who are young, be happy while you are young,

and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.

Follow the ways of your heart

and whatever your eyes see,

but know that for all these things

God will bring you into judgment.

10So then, banish anxiety from your heart

and cast off the troubles of your body,

for youth and vigor are meaningless.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.