It’s that time of year. We often greet the New Year with analyzing our past year. Did we accomplish everything we wanted to? Some of us bemoan the passing of another year of failed goal reaching and scurry to create new goals. Others celebrate accomplishments and wish there were more accomplishments. Some do a bit of both. This is a time of reflection for most: looking back to the accomplishments and failures of the past and looking forward to the hope of new successes in the future: Our past, present, and future are in His hands.

“He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV)

God has made everything beautiful in its time.

Do you remember the story of the ugly duckling? It grows into a beautiful swan – in God’s time. Our life is like that. Living in a fallen world means we have to sometimes walk through a crucible, and God uses those times to temper our soul, removing impurities. It all happens in His perfect time and we become better for it.

God has put eternity (See note (2) below) into man’s heart.

We were created with an eternal soul, bound to live forever and this life is not our forever homes by God’s grace and wisdom. A fallen world covered under the shroud of sin was never meant to be eternal. We do the best we can at the calling that God has given each of us. Will we fail at times? Sure. Will we succeed more often than not? Absolutely. Do not let the failures of the past determine your future, keep going, do your best and leave the rest to God. May all our toil give Him glory!

Yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Because God has given us an eternal soul does not mean we can see into the future or understand the past until He deems it so. We do not know what the future holds – and that is okay. Sometimes we need to fail to learn but would we choose to continue down a path if we knew if led to failure? Probably, not. We do not need to know the future because we are the children of God. Our Father knows all things and that is enough. We see His hand in our lives more often in retrospect than in the present.

Prayerfully, with humbleness, and hopefulness we set foot into 2024. May your year be blessed and filled with the fulfillment that only God can provide.

N

Notes:

(1) About Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes was written either during the reign of Solomon or sometime after by “The Preacher”, who some scholars believe to be Solomon but there are some disconnects in the words used to the time frame of Solomon. The book takes a look at the fallen world and the need to fear God as we go through the daily tasks of living our lives.

(2) The Hebrew word used for eternity is עוֹלָם translates to long duration, antiquity, futurity. This is significant because some translations use the word “world” which changes the meaning of this statement. Source for Translation: Richard Whitaker et al., The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: From A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, Based on the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius (Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906).

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