"What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and that also every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor- it is the gift of God."
Wow.... They didn't call him Solomon the Wise for nothing. Of course God was the One who revealed all this wisdom to him so he doesn't really get any credit. I think this is a wonderful look into the heart of God. He created "jobs" for each and every one of us and allows us to profit from those "jobs" I may be wrong but I feel God is speaking of our physical jobs that occupy most of our time, but also our jobs/tasks He has laid before us in our spiritual lives as well. He goes even further to reassure us that He has a great plan to work all that labor for His glory and loves us enough to let us enjoy the fruits from our labors. How awesome is that? He could have just said " I command you to work so just do it, get it done and be happy I gave you life!" I am so glad our God is a God of love and blessing. I think we make the mistake of thinking our jobs have to be related to our interests, joys, or passions though. I think God bases our jobs upon our strengths, weaknesses, maturity levels (spiritually) and what we need to learn to become stronger and wiser in our walk with Him. I have always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was a little girl and I thought that was going to be my calling. I had dreams of what my classroom would look like and what age I wanted to teach. What kind of curriculum I would teach, what would be my fun ideas....etc etc etc... Notice something in all those sentences....they all said "I". It is not wrong to dream or to have passions but we need to seek God in everything. I had a hard time as we had more and more children my dream of becoming a teacher was fading farther and farther away. But God revealed to me that He has already made me a teacher. Maybe not how I had imagined but all those years He was preparing me to be the teacher to my beautiful children. God took what I dreamed of and used it to glorify Him. I am amazed and blessed a the same time. Here I had thought He didn't care about what I had in mind when really it was all His idea to begin with and He worked it out so I could do His work. That is my job, God gave me a love of children and a job that incorporates that love. And just like verse 13 I am enjoying the fruits of my "God-given task" every time one of my children says "i love you mommy" or when I see them exhibit a love for Jesus or they practice something I have tried to teach them....I am blessed. I profit knowing that God is being glorified and I am given the extraordinary job of raising up new followers of Christ. A new generation of His children.
There are days where I do feel like I labor in vain at this job though and if I am honest with myself it is because those days I am doing His will with my strength. God is a big God with big tasks and I cannot fulfill those tasks if I don't rely on His strength. It is like trying to lift and elephant with my arms and I can try over and over again but the end result will leave me weak and helpless, maybe feeling out of control, angry, and frustrated. Then the enemy sneaks in and takes advantage while I am vulnerable. I have no armor and am practically laying on the ground waiting to be trampled. I need to remember everyday to put on my armor and be filled by Jesus because it is only then will i be able to get the job done for the day rejoicing and persevering with hope that no matter what happens God will make everything beautiful in His time (vs 11)
On a separate note, notice how God calls us to be occupied. He is telling us that we are to be contently working and rejoicing in Him because when we become idle we are prone to follow distraction.
LORD JESUS, THANK YOU FOR THE JOB YOU HAVE GIVEN ME. HELP ME TO NEVER BE DISTRACTED FROM COMING TO YOU EACH DAY TO BE FILLED SO THAT I MAY PERFORM MY TASKS TO YOUR GLORY. THANK YOU FOR THE REMINDER THAT I AM WEAK AND CAN DO NOTHING APART FROM YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE MANY MANY BLESSINGS THAT COME FROM THIS JOB YOU HAVE PLACED BEFORE ME. GIVE ME YOUR PASSION, YOUR STRENGTH IN MY LIFE SO I DON'T BECOME IDLE AND FALL INTO THE ENEMIES TRAP OF DISTRACTION, COMPLETING USELESS TASKS THAT ONLY CONSUME TIME. HELP ME TO DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU AND ONLY THINGS THAT ARE BENEFICIAL TO YOU. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN.
