Future

"Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death" (Ecclesiastes 8:7-8a).

There's a lot of blame going around these days. Who knew what when and why didn't others know certain things at certain times? Could these latest terrorist attacks have been thwarted if someone had paid better attention? Can't we unlock technology so that we can better access people's cell phones (and we don't think that those who want to harm others will just find other ways to communicate)? And on and on the blame game goes. Ultimately, just as spending $15 million dollars trying to find out who was "responsible" for 9/11, the blame game accomplishes nothing in this instance either (except it did get us to stop talking about the Starbucks red cups!).

The Teacher reminds us, though, that no one knows the future. Trying to pin down the future is like trying to contain the wind. Step outside today and see exactly how easy that is! It's quite windy here today, and as we're reminded elsewhere in Scripture, the wind blows where it will (cf. John 3:8). So it is, the Teacher says, with the future. We don't know what is to come or when it is to come. No matter how many so-called Bible teachers write books and make their predictions, no one knows what will come and when. The future, it seems, is in God's hands.

Years and years ago, a group called First Call recorded a song that contained this line: "I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future." God is in charge. We are not. We aren't meant to know what is next any more than we are meant to contain the wind. This calls us to trust, to rest in God's provision and care. Can we do that, honestly? Can we trust in the only one who holds the future—yours, mine and the world's?