Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 says,...

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 3:9-15, which read,

v.9, 10 - What profits is there to the worker from that in which he toils?  I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Solomon's focus is on self.  As long as his focus stays on self there will be no answer to his question and quest.  Work is good for us but it is not the end goal.  Work is actually a task that God puts before us to accomplish but it will not bring lasting fulfillment for it wasn't created by God to do this.  Something else beyond the work of our hands has to be introduced that can answer this question of Solomon's.

v.11 - He has made everything appropriate in its time.  He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Solomon just finished a passage with the phrase "a time to" and now he acknowledges the God of time.  God made everything.  God is the creator.  God also is in control of time and when things happen.  The term is "sovereignty."  Dictionary.com says, 

"supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community"

We have the capability to understand that there is a past and a future but the full scope of it is not obtainable.  God is the One who holds the keys to all that has been done and will be done.  It is being revealed to us as He sees fit; what is appropriate; what is beautiful; and in its time.

v.12, 13 - I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God.

Solomon doesn't let go of the value of work.  It is something we can rejoice over.  It is something in which much good can come from.  Actually it is good men who we need to do good work to see themselves and others eating and drinking.  It is a gift God has given us to show love to Him and to others.  In the breathe that Solomon is using to say "all is vanity" he is also not saying "just lay down and die" over this fact.  Even in our world of vanity and those striving after things to bring fulfillment in which they will not, we continue on with the work that God has given us to do which is a benefit to ourselves and others.  Work has its place in our world and God given to fulfill His glory revealed.

v.14 - I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.

Our work and God's work are two different things.  God's work remains forever.  God's work is complete.  God's work has a purpose that draws men to fear, revere, submit, and bow to Him as their Lord.  I said recently at the Christmas Eve candlelight service a remembrance about being 11 years old and clutching the back of the pew in front of me.  I had a will, a strong will, but it was no match for God's will.  God puts things into place that I cannot add to or take away from.  The term again is "sovereign."  

v.15 - That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.

Many of the questions about God are hard to answer because He is God and we are not.  We live in the present but it has been already for Him.  We look to that which will be but that too has already been for God.  What seems to us to be a lost cause or something that is passed by is still in the reach of God.  He is able to resurrect the dead and make it live again.  We just have the ability to bury our dead.  I think Solomon is trying to get us to see how different God is from us even though we are created in the image of God.

In our search for meaning we need to seek the One who transcends what we can do.  We need to seek the One who gives us our tasks for our good and the good of others.  We need to seek the One who holds time in His hands and is not bound by it.  We see the clocking ticking away but He created the mechanism, controls the mechanism, and He even commands the mechanism to the fulfillment of His will.  God is the supreme and independent power of us and our quest is not of created things but of the Creator.  Let us pray.

"Lord, help us to understand You.  Help us to get a glimpse of Your will for our lives.  Help us to use this great gift of work for Your glory.  Help us to not limit You to our created limitations and see a God who can even raise the dead.  Amen."

Pastor Adam