A God-Given Burden: “yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the very beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 Revised Standard Version

The God-Given Task

⁹ What gain has the worker from his toil?

¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³ also that it is God’s gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.

Word of God for the Children of God

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

To believe or not to believe in God … that is the most troubling of questions.

Ultimately, I believe there are no true atheists. Those who do claim atheism may be unwilling to publicly or privately acknowledge this about themselves, but God has given to every person a heavy burden. In the deep recesses of their being, they know that God is—and it is the very “is-ness” of God which creates a tug of war dilemma in men’s and women’s hearts and minds.

God created the world, and He made it beautiful in all of its perfection. God also made mankind to know Him, to commune with Him, to walk with Him in the garden, to and to enjoy all the benefits of His companionship. But man turned his back on the Designer, and as a result the perception of eternity that has been implanted within us is one which now largely taunts, tyrannizes and tests us.

People naturally seek to repress a knowledge of God (Romans 1:18-19), but a knowledge of God is inescapable. God has created us for a divine purpose—to know and worship Him—and unless we discover and fulfill that purpose, we will never be fully satisfied with anything else offered along life’s journey.

No relationship with a child, parent, spouse, lover, or friend can fulfill this great longing, nor can any experience, any possession, or any achievement.

This is the unacknowledged burden that God has laid on humanity: we will be forever dissatisfied until we do come to know the only thing that can bear the weight of our eternity—namely, to know Him and live in fellowship with Him.

You and I, who are creatures of time, were made for eternity.

We were made for God’s presence.

It should therefore be no surprise to us that when we turn away from Him, our lives are marked by frustration and confusion. When we choose to live in the dark, we lose our sight. The day that we finally acknowledge this is a great day.

The burden of being without God will weigh you down until you realize there has to be an answer somewhere, in someone else. And, of course, there is.

There are many things in this life that are beautiful, and we are free to enjoy them in accordance with the way God designed us to.

But there is nothing in this life that is ultimate, and we will not be free until we not only acknowledge this intellectually but live it out in our experience.

Is there something that you are determined to have, or to get, in your life because you think it will make you truly alive and fulfilled?

What is it that you feel you could not live, or could not be happy, without?

Be careful not to allow something good to become your god.

Instead, pray, place your ultimate hopes on the shoulders of the only one who is strong enough to bear them: the Eternal One.

To believe or not to believe in God … that is the most troubling of questions.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Praying …

Psalm 31 Revised Standard Version

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 In thee, O Lord, do I seek refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in thy righteousness deliver me!
² Incline thy ear to me,
    rescue me speedily!
Be thou a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

³ Yea, thou art my rock and my fortress;
    for thy name’s sake lead me and guide me,
⁴ take me out of the net which is hidden for me,
    for thou art my refuge.
⁵ Into thy hand I commit my spirit;
    thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

⁶ Thou hatest^[a] those who pay regard to vain idols;
    but I trust in the Lord.
⁷ I will rejoice and be glad for thy steadfast love,
    because thou hast seen my affliction,
    thou hast taken heed of my adversities,
⁸ and hast not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    thou hast set my feet in a broad place.

⁹ Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief,
    my soul and my body also.
¹⁰ For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,^[b]
    and my bones waste away.

¹¹ I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
    a horror^[c] to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹² I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.
¹³ Yea, I hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I trust in thee, O Lord,
    I say, “Thou art my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in thy hand;
    deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors!
¹⁶ Let thy face shine on thy servant;
    save me in thy steadfast love!
¹⁷ Let me not be put to shame, O Lord,
    for I call on thee;
let the wicked be put to shame,
    let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
¹⁸ Let the lying lips be dumb,
    which speak insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.

¹⁹ O how abundant is thy goodness,
    which thou hast laid up for those who fear thee,
and wrought for those who take refuge in thee,
    in the sight of the sons of men!
²⁰ In the covert of thy presence thou hidest them
    from the plots of men;
thou holdest them safe under thy shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

²¹ Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was beset as in a besieged city.
²² I had said in my alarm,
    “I am driven far^[d] from thy sight.”
But thou didst hear my supplications,
    when I cried to thee for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful,
    but abundantly requites him who acts haughtily.
²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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