How to Enjoy Your Crazy Life

Ecclesiastes 3.1-15

My grandfather’s workbench, in the cellar of his house, was a mess – at least from my childish perspective. As a kid looking up at the jumbled assortment of tools, aerosol cans, plastic jars, wood scraps, and spare parts scattered across that corner of the basement, I wondered to myself, “How can grandpa find anything down here?”

From my grandpa’s perspective though, everything was in its place. The screwdriver was sitting on the right-hand side of the bench, right where he left it. The peanut-butter jar half-filled with wingnuts sat on the top middle shelf, beside the pile of spare light switches, and the half-used WD-40 spray can was in the Reebok shoe box, ready for use.

My grandfather’s workbench reminds me of the way we feel about life sometimes. We get the mistaken idea that it’s all messed up, unpredictable, and out of control. Though this is kind of true (thanks to sin), there is a far greater reality at work. As we sort through the craziness of our lives in this fallen world, God is also at work accomplishing perfect and everlasting things. From this vantage point, we realize that everything has its place.

The Extremes of Life

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 teaches us that everything has its time. This does not mean that everything that happens is good, but rather that everything that happens – whether good or bad – fits together perfectly like a comprehensive puzzle that includes all things, the dark pieces and the colorful ones alike (Eccl 3:1).

• There is a time for life to begin and a time for life to end (Eccl 3:2). This fact extends from human life to plant life, as the autumn season reminds us when the leaves fall from the trees.
• There is a time to destroy and time to restore (Eccl 3:3). Once again, this fact extends from human life (contrasting warfare and violence with physical healing) to lifeless matter, (contrasting demolition with construction).
• There is a time for sadness and grief and a time for laughter and celebration (Eccl 3:4).
• There is a time to let go and a time to hold on (Eccl 3:5). This applies to material things (like getting rid of rocks or gathering them), and it applies to personal relationships. (Embracing may refer to general affection in human relationships, and it may refer to intimacy and intercourse.) Sometimes we choose when these events happen, but other times we have no choice – they happen to us (Eccl 3:6).
• There is a time to express yourself and there is a time to be quiet (Eccl 3:7). Tearing and sewing likely refers to the dramatic custom of ripping your clothes to express personal grief, while sewing refers to the methodic, mundane task of stitching clothes together. This contrast also applies directly to our words.
• There is a time for close friendship and there is a time for strong opposition (Eccl 3:8). This applies to personal relationships and individual feelings, but it also applies to social scenarios and national events on a larger scale.

The Eternal Perspective

How should people respond to the extremes of life?

Pay Attention to God

Most importantly, we should turn our attention to God (Eccl 3:10, 11, 13, 14, 15). He alone is great, majestic, and mighty. Without him, life is meaningless, but thanks to him, everything serves an ultimate, meaningful purpose. Thanks to him, everything that happens is beautiful (or “appropriate”) in its time (Eccl 3:11).

It’s like watching a professional football game. On the field, it looks like a jumbled mess of men just pushing and tackling each other for no reason, but it’s not that way. Coaches on the sidelines are drawing up sophisticated, well-planned plays, while wealthy owners in the executive suites are overlooking the field, financing the whole operation with calculated skill.

Stop Trying to Figure Everything Out

“No one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Eccl 3:11). Paul says a similar thing, when he concluded, “How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!” (Rom 11:33). Therefore, to when you try to make sense of everything that you face and of everything that goes on in the world, you are really wasting time.

“Why does she suffer, while the other lady is healed?” “Why is he sick, but the other man is healthy?” “Why is there so much poverty in this country while this other country is so rich?” “Why is their war over there and peace over here?” “Why do their lives seem so easy, but our lives seem so hard?” Questions like these reveal a diminished view of the sovereignty of God. Things happen. God knows and has everything under control. That’s the way it is. Accept it.

Do Good Things and Have a Good Time

There is a better way to navigate the pendulum swings of life. Rather than trying to figure everything out, do good things and have a good time. “I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God” (Eccl 3:12-13).

In the New Testament (NT), Paul urged Timothy to teach the church a similar perspective. “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:17-19).

Enjoying the fruits of your labor is a godly approach, not a godless one. Why? Because it recognizes that God himself gave you your income and material resources for this purpose.

When you enjoy God’s blessings as a gift from him (as my father enjoys his Ford Mustang!), you fulfill what he intended, not for your own selfish pleasure, but for his divine pleasure; not hoping to find satisfaction in these things (for they themselves are empty), but finding full satisfaction in the God who gave them for your enjoyment. Whatever he does, he does so that you will fear him and acknowledge him (Eccl 3:14).

At the same time, you should also devote yourself to doing good with your energy and resources, too. This is also why God gives you the ability to work and acquire things, so that you will reflect his giving nature and be a channel of blessing to others on his behalf.

Life takes on new meaning when you embrace this two-fold reality. It is most appropriate to enjoy the experiences and resources God gives you, with no regrets, while also being a channel of blessing and goodness to others.

When you enjoy God’s gifts, don’t do so hesitantly – enjoy them with all of your heart. When you pass along God’s gifts to others, don’t do this hesitantly either. Do good with all of your heart. “Do good” in your life and “enjoy the good” that comes your way as a result. It’s all God’s gift to you in his perfect time and according to his perfect plan. Just enjoy being a part of it, challenges and all.

Keep the Big Picture in Mind

Though we can’t figure everything out, we all know innately that there is life beyond the grave – that we are a part of a much longer, grander story than the events of our everyday lives (Eccl 3:11). What’s more, God’s purposes in all that occurs will surely be accomplished and last forever (Eccl 3:12).

The patterns, cycles, and trends of life in this world occur repeatedly throughout history, from the beginning until now. No one can alter God’s purposes. “Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it (Eccl 3:14). Furthermore, no one can alter the fundamental principles of earthly existence. “That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been” (Eccl 3:15).

God does not expect us to alter the course of history, answer unsolvable questions, or find our satisfaction here below. Instead, he expects us to respond to everything that happens in a God-focused way.

Trust him implicitly and unswervingly through all the pendulum extremes of life that come your way. Work hard and do good things so long as God enables you to do so and enjoy the good that comes your way as a result, without guilt or hesitation. Why? Because it is the gift of God both to enjoy good things from his hand and to be his hands for good to others. This approach will help you navigate your life in this messy world and fulfill God’s purpose for all that occurs.

Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.