Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
A Gift from God

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth from his motherÕs womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind? All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.

World English Bible

Just a few hours ago, word came that the space shuttle Columbia was lost when reentering earth's atmosphere. I am flooded with questions, all starting with "why":

Why did this happen? What was it that failed that led to this destruction?

Why didn't NASA know that this was a possibility on this flight?

Why did it have to be the flight with the Israeli scientist and astronaut? Wasn't there so much good in a focus on Israel that didn't involve bullets and hatred?

Why do we all have to face another troublesome tragedy? Why should the space program now have to face another Challenger-like crisis?

Why did these people have to die?



Why am I compelled to ask questions like this for which I know there will be no answers?

Life is short and full of frustrations. Life has never been "fair", and it certainly isn't today when cruel dictators live and oppress while seven scientists die. There is something so strong in the human spirit that wants everything to be right, to have guarantees that the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose, but life never has worked that way.

King Solomon agrees with me. The more he succeeded, the more he saw how meaningless that was. He was the richest king in the history of his people, he was the wisest ruler on the planet, he had more success than anyone had ever had before--but just at the time he saw that he "had it all", he realized he had nothing. Nothing that he achieved would give him peace, joy, longevity, justice. The more he longed for the world to work the way he believed it should work, the more he was dismayed at the random nature of life. What is the point?

The only point is our relationship with God. There is joy only when we follow in God's will, to do what God calls us to do. Solomon observed that joy comes whether we are wise or foolish, whether we have great wealth or not enough to eat, whether life treats us fairly or not. The gift of joy from God is that we can take pleasure in living in the presence of God for the handful of days that God gives us on this earth. We don't like being reminded that not so long ago our human forms were nothing but dust, and not so long from now our human forms will again be nothing but dust. But God is forever, and God's love for us is forever, no matter what happens.