Happiness in Uncertain Times – Ecc. 11:1-6 (ESV) • Nothing ventured, nothing gained. • Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. • When the going gets tough, the tough get going. • Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. • Make hay while the sun shines. • All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. Ecclesiastes 11: 1-6 (ESV) Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement, said “I’m not afraid of failure; I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” That’s Ecclesiastes. King Solomon succeeded at many things that didn’t matter and he lived to tell us about how meaningless it all was – without God. Ecclesiastes 11 gives us four God-approved activities for happiness in uncertain times. Live . 11:1. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Isaiah 32:20, “Happy are you who sow beside all waters.” Cast your seed on wet, fertile ground and you will reap a harvest. 1 Corinthians 9 says, “… whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” SOME translations take a different approach from sowing to sending. “Send your grain overseas and gain a profit.” King Solomon had fleets of ships. He would send them out for trade. 1 Kings 10 says, “Once every three years the fleet of ships would come home bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks (or baboons).” Your ship won’t come in if you don’t send it out. While there is no guarantees our generosity or commerce will be rewarded, it is still God’s policy for us to live generously. Help as as you can. 11:2, “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” This means, help as many people as you can and then some. Give while you can, before the day comes and you have nothing to give." Prov. 19: 17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.” Luke 6, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.” Believe God in spite of . 11:3-5, “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” • Nature is unpredictable. Believe God in spite of these uncertainties. • Nothing heroic happens when we are full of excuses. Missionary and explorer, David Livingstone opened up central Africa to the Gospel. He was also trying to find the source of the Nile River in order to disrupt the slave trade. He travelled 40,000 miles in 32 years before he died in Africa at the age of 59. The missionary society offered to send him help when the roads were in. Livingstone replied, “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.” There are no guarantees in life, so don’t wait for the perfect time for doing what the LORD asks you to do. Today is the only day you have to obey God. Believe God. He is working even if your plans are not working. God put you together in your mother’s womb. He is still working on you. Keep on keeping on and leave the to God. 11:6, “In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Walt Keiser says the key to this section is the phrase in verse 6, “Withhold not your hand.” It means to keep your hands busy working from morning to evening. We are responsible to serve Him. That is our reward. He is responsible for the results along the way. As someone said, “Take a risk and go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.”