July 26, 2026 | A Field Guide to Unfair Days

A Field Guide to Unfair Days | Ecclesiastes 8

Ecclesiastes 8

Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 8 offers a field guide for days when life feels unfair, those in authority make poor choices, and wicked people appear to prosper. Solomon calls us to pursue wisdom and righteousness without trying to control every outcome. We should respect authority, do our work well, and seek opportunities to influence others for good. We must also know when to take a firm stand for what is right. Though judgment may seem delayed, wickedness cannot deliver lasting security. It will ultimately be well with those who fear God.

Rather than letting fear, frustration, or the desire for control rule us, we can look for joy in the life God has given us. Even in difficult circumstances, we can enjoy God, recognize his good gifts, and take pleasure in the good work he places before us.

Transcript of A Field Guide to Unfair Days | Ecclesiastes 8

A Field Guide to Unfair Days

Jed Gillis: I don't think I have to persuade anyone here that life sometimes feels unfair. I imagine even the youngest ones of us here have experienced that. Those who have lived for longer have experienced it perhaps in even worse or more hurtful ways.

And the Book of Ecclesiastes has already talked a little bit about that, because we live in a world where life can feel unfair because there are all these different authority relationships. There's all these different power imbalances. It can feel unfair because the boss at work seems to have more opportunities than the worker who's making minimum wage. It can feel unfair because there are people in Nashville or Washington who make decisions that aren't what you would choose, but you have to live with some of the consequences. There are many ways that life can at times feel unfair, and it can even feel scary because you aren't in control of everything that happens that affects your life.

And so we get to this point in Ecclesiastes, and Solomon has been really beating this drum over and over to say you can't control everything in your life. You can't pursue control because if you do, you find that it slips through your fingers. So he's told us over and over, pursue what is good, and that can't guarantee your outcomes, but it is what ultimately honors God and what is best for us.

That's what he's told us throughout the book, but there's some problems that come with that. If, if you just take that statement, I say, "Don't pursue control in your life. You can't control it, so instead pursue what's good with wisdom and humility." Then there's, there's two big problems I think that we could ask that this text addresses. One is that wise humility may seem scary. It feels like if I don't grab control of my life and control all of my circumstances, then things I don't want to happen might happen to me. So that's scary.

If I really trust God and really follow what he says, take some things Jesus said like if someone strikes you, you turn the other cheek. Say, "Wait, I'm gonna get taken advantage of if I pursue what's good and don't control my life, and I actually do what Jesus says about forgiveness." He says, "If a brother comes back to you 70 times seven times, you forgive." Like, if I do that and pursue what's good like that, I'm gonna get taken advantage of. It can feel scary.

The other problem is sometimes wickedness seems rewarding, doesn't it? You don't have to look too far, maybe not in your immediate circumstances, but if you look around our world, you see a lot of people who don't honor God. And if you're honest, you think, "I'd like my life to look more like theirs looks."

So both of those issues, wise humility can be scary and wickedness can seem rewarding, it really comes from the same issue. As we walk through life, life under the sun sometimes looks very unfair. And earlier in the book, Solomon already addressed some of that. If you weren't with us when we went through the end of chapter three, the beginning of chapter four, he's already talked a little bit about how life can seem unfair. But there he's doing it like almost like a textbook, like a philosophical discussion. There's injustice in the world, here's one way to think about it. There's oppression, here's one way to think about it. It's more textbook style.

Here, this is more like a, a field guide. You guys know the only field guide I actually am really aware of myself is you have one of those birding field guides. You guys know those books, you open them up and it's supposed to... You're supposed to be able to look and see a bird and then go through and find which one you're looking at. I'm apparently not good at using them, but that's what it's supposed to be like, right? It's supposed to be I have this book, I'm out in the field, I don't have, you know, the Internet, and I see this bird and go, "Oh, its tail is this color, its head's shaped like this. How do I find which bird I'm talking about?" That's what a field guide is. It doesn't tell you everything there is to know about avian biology. That's not the point. It doesn't tell you how their, you know, internal feathers and wings are structured. That's not the point. The point is when you see this bird, what are you looking at?

So here, what Solomon is doing, and really he continues to do throughout a few chapters, is he's saying, "Now, when you go through life and you see unfairness, how do you think about it?" It's a field guide. It's not telling you everything about how it works out in the long run. It says, "When you see it in certain contexts, here's what you're looking at, here's how you respond."

Reading Ecclesiastes 8

Jed Gillis: Let's read beginning in verse one of chapter eight.

Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. I say, keep the king's command because of God's oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, "What are you doing?" Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.

For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him, for he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Wise Humility Can Feel Scary, And Wickedness Can Seem Rewarding

Jed Gillis: We'll continue reading in just a second.

That first section focuses on our first problem, sometimes wise humility can feel scary. But you notice at the end, he starts to talk about wickedness. Wickedness seems rewarding. That's what he continues to do in verse 10.

Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily. The heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil 100 times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

We'll finish that section a little bit later.

That's where the good news comes, by the way, so it's coming.

How Do You Pursue Good When You're Not King?

Jed Gillis: In this first section, we could ask it this way: How do you pursue good when you're not the king? How do you pursue good when there's, there's a, a power imbalance, and you go, "Here's a king, I'm a servant. Here's a boss, I'm an employee. Here's a powerful, influential person, I don't think I have that kind of influence." So what do you do?

Now, before we hurry to all the modern applications, let's make sure we understand the context that he's actually speaking into. So if you think back, imagine that you were in, in the ancient Near East, that Solomon was in fact your king. And you say, "What if Solomon makes decisions that I don't like? And I'm a servant, I'm supposed to carry out his decisions. What if he makes bad decisions and it impacts my life? What am I supposed to do?"

Keep the King's Command

Jed Gillis: Well, first, in verse two he says, "Keep the king's command." Why? Because God establishes kings. Now, I know it's easy for us to run to, "Wait, you mean I just do whatever the king says? What if he says something really horrible? What if he tells me to go slaughter somebody innocent? What if..." I know it's easy for our mind to run there. Push pause. He does come back to it. But before we run there, the basic posture for a servant in that context in the ancient world is to obey the king.

Thankfully, we don't have to go far in scripture to find examples like this. Let's use one. Let's talk about Daniel. Daniel, as a young man, was kidnapped, captured. You say, "Life's not fair sometimes." Yes. Daniel knew that. He was taken away from his homeland. He was put to serve in the king's courts. It wasn't fair. And in case you have any doubts, I'm sure that Daniel, raised a Jew, kidnapped, had plenty of disagreements with the king. There were plenty of decisions he did not like, and yet what do we see as we go through the story of Daniel?

Well, we do see some real key points where he says, "All right, in a wise way, I can't follow this command." But you also see he must have done his job pretty well, 'cause they promoted him.

Or we could talk about Joseph. Think Joseph thought life was unfair? Sure. 'Cause it was from a human standpoint. When Joseph is in Egypt, there would have been decisions and things that were made along the way that he didn't agree with, that he said, "I don't want to follow through on this." But he must have done his job well because despite false accusations, despite being a foreigner, despite all of that, he ends up being third in the kingdom.

Daniel, Joseph, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they ended up where they ended up because their basic posture, even though they'd been kidnapped, even though it wasn't fair, even though there was plenty of evil, their basic posture was, "I'm gonna do my job well. I'm gonna follow what the king says and do it the best I can."

That's step one. Keep the king's command. That's the basic posture.

Do Not Be Hasty to Leave the King's Presence

Jed Gillis: Second thing he says, verse three, "Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in e- an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases." That first phrase, don't be hasty to leave his presence. If you're in the presence of the king, you have opportunity to influence what happens. In an ancient world, they didn't vote. We know that, right? They, they didn't have the opportunity to go to a poll and say, express their op- they didn't have that. They really didn't have our world of petitions and all of these kinds of things we can do.

The choice was, if you want to influence what the king does, you need to be able to actually be in his presence and have conversations and bring up wisdom. And if you say, "Well, I don't agree with everything this king does, so forget it, I'm out," you're not going to be influencing much. If Joseph said that the first disagreement that came up, Joseph wouldn't have been there in order to actually save his people.

Solomon's saying, Look, be wise. The king's gonna do some stuff you don't like. Don't be hasty to just throw away your opportunity of influence, to leave the king's presence. Instead, where you can, carry out what the king says well, obey that command, that's your basic posture, "so that you have opportunity to influence things for the better."

Don't Complain About Petty Issues

Jed Gillis: And the third principle, in that context, we're still thinking in an ancient context, don't argue or complain over petty things. I am sure Daniel and Joseph had a million opportunities to say, "That's not good. I disagree." But what Solomon says here, "Don't take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases."

Now, that could sound like if there's evil going on, don't say anything about it, just hide. We know that's not the case from this text in just a minute, but we certainly know Daniel didn't do that. When the king said, "Don't worship anybody but me," Daniel said, "I'm gonna pray like I normally do." When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego heard the same thing, "Don't worship anybody but this statue," they said, "Nope."

Now you notice wh- in their story, they didn't think they could control the outcome. They said, "God can deliver us, but if he doesn't, we still won't worship." They weren't trying to control all their outcomes. They were saying, "Look, this is a place worth standing. We're gonna stand. We're not gonna worship."

If an advisor to the king always complained about every petty disagreement, they wouldn't have any influence. Solomon is setting up for servants to hear this and say, "How do I wisely work in a world where an authority, somebody with more power than me, makes bad decisions, or at least decisions I think are bad?"

Basic posture: Keep their commands. Don't throw away opportunity to influence hastily, and don't be a, a, a rabble-rousing kind of troublemaker. Like, every issue comes up, "Here's the problem with that. Here's the problem with that."

Instead, verse five, "The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there's a time and a way for everything." The wise heart knows when it's time to say, like Daniel, "We're not eating meat sacrificed to idols." But he doesn't just say, "Forget you, I'm out." He says, "Hey, here's a proper time and a good way. Let us try vegetables. You're going to see," that was his confidence, "you're gonna see that our God cares for us." And he moved forward.

But when it came time to say, "Worship the king and not God," Daniel says, "No, I can't." He knew the proper time and the just way. But again, notice, if you know the story of Daniel, I'm, I'm assuming that you know some of those stories. Maybe you don't. If you know the story of Daniel, though, if you don't, you can go read the Book of Daniel, and you can catch up on all of those things.

When he does say, "I'm going to worship God," he doesn't do it by going in, ranting against the king, blasting all the decisions, saying, "Forget it. I'm out. You're a dumb king." He doesn't do that. He just says, "The proper time, the just way. How do I honor God as someone whose allegiance is to God, not the king, but still show respect and honor to the king? I'm gonna keep worshiping like I always did, King, and I'll take the consequences.

Applying These Principles to Modern Contexts

Jed Gillis: So overall, Solomon's answer is when there's a king, or we can broaden to more modern applications, when there's someone in authority over you who's making decisions you don't like, politics, your boss, whatever, you say, "What should my attitude be?" Not to cause problems at every moment, not to try and argue about every little thing, but to say, "I can't control all these outcomes. How do I pursue good in a just and wise way?" There's a time to say, "I can't follow that at all." And there's a time to say, "I don't like that decision, but I'm gonna pursue good for my family, for my city, for my country in whatever ways I can."

As we think about these biblical examples, we know they knew the right time and the right moment, and God blessed that.

However unfair you feel your life has been, it has not been marauding army comes in and kills most of your family and enslaves you unfair. It hasn't been that kind of unfair. I'm fairly confident. If that is your story, I'm sorry. I'd love to hear it, but I'm pretty sure it's not. Our lives are not unfair like that, but we do have this unfairness at times of power imbalance.

Think about a, a workplace. The boss makes decisions you think are not good. Maybe they're unwise business decisions, or maybe they're treating a coworker wrongly. You say, "This is not fair." And the power imbalance is real. You can't fire your boss, but your boss can fire you. How do you handle that?

Well, you pull out your field guide, your Ecclesiastes 8 field guide. Go, "Oh, this matches. There's a power imbalance. It's unfair. I think there's some wrong things going on. How do I handle it?" Your basic posture is do your job really well Don't throw away opportunity for influence. Don't be just a troublemaker who raises every little petty complaint. However, there's a proper time and a just way to say, "Here's a real issue of righteousness, and I'm gonna stand for righteousness, and I'm gonna deal with the consequences. Maybe I get fired. Okay?"

But it's not about controlling your outcome. See, if you go into that situation and you're like, "What I have to do is make absolutely sure I keep my job," then you're gonna feel pressure, some of you have felt them, to do the wrong thing. You're gonna feel pressures to, instead of pursuing righteousness, to turn from what is good, to not fear the Lord. You're gonna feel pressures that if I actually do what's right here, I might lose this client, and this client is a big client. Okay, how do I handle that?

Right, this is our basic posture. You aren't responsible for your boss's bad decisions, and you aren't controlling your outcomes by trying to turn it into a power struggle like, "I'm gonna convince my boss that everything he says is wrong and I'm right about everything." No, there's a basic posture. I wanna do the job well, I want to influence, I wanna be a peacemaker, not a complainer, and there's a right time to address issues of righteousness.

In other words, we could say it this way. When life feels unfair and there's power imbalance, we're tempted to make control our guiding principle, our North Star. How can I control the situation? That's not what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. They said, "Maybe we end up getting burned up in the fiery furnace. I can't control it. But I know what's right, and I'm gonna pursue that." That's not what Daniel did. He said, "I don't know what the consequences will be. I may end up in a lions' den, but I know what's right. I'm gonna worship God no matter what this king tells me." We have these examples which put flesh and blood on what Solomon is talking about here.

Applying these Principles to Politics

Jed Gillis: Now, in our context, we also have American politics. And I don't have to ask whether our politicians ever make decisions you disagree with. We all know that. Probably, if you're honest, every politician you've ever heard of made some decisions you disagreed with. So how do we handle that?

In our world, in our, in our modern culture, there's a whole lot of ways Christians try to engage with politics. Sometimes there are, there are Christians who essentially are just like religious pluralist humanists, and they basically say in the political sphere, "Every religious idea is fine. Do whatever you think is good for humans," and it's very squishy. Well, I don't think Daniel and Joseph were squishy in their political engagement. They knew some things were right.

There are some Christians who try to be like Christian rabble-rousers. You don't have to go far. Go on YouTube, you can find people who are every single day posting new videos complaining about something with outrage. I don't think that matches Solomon's principles here.

There's also a kind of bully citizenship that says we're gonna try to fight over everything.

Here's what I think Solomon is telling us to do we're in a context where our world is different. We don't have a king, we have elected officials. You have opportunity to influence things that those servants didn't. But our posture should still be the same.

If you're a believer in Jesus, you're a heavenly citizen. That is the primary citizenship you have. You now live on this earth as part of a country. And what did God say in Jeremiah to Israelites in captivity? He said, "Seek the welfare of the country you live in." Even though you'd been captured and put there and it wasn't fair. Seek the welfare.

So we can take these same principles. Live well according to the authorities that are in place. We all disagree with some of their decisions, of course. But say, "As much as is within me, the opportunities I have, how do I pursue good for my neighborhood?" Start there 'cause it's right next to you. For my city. Maybe it's for my state. Maybe it's for my country.

First, pursue good. Live well.

Second, don't throw away opportunity for influence. These are just the same principles that we said in a context with king. We have chances to vote. We have chances to be involved with political activism in different ways. We need wisdom to know how to do that. But Christians aren't supposed to just say, "Well, forget it. Let our whole country and our whole world just go to hell in a hand basket. We're just gonna hang on over here." No. Seek the good of the city.

Say, "But I don't agree with all their decisions. There are no candidates who agree with me completely. I can't vote for one like that." Of course. But don't throw away opportunity for influence. Don't be quick to say, "Well, I can't do anything about it. I'm just out. I don't care about anything in politics." It's not what Solomon was telling this servant to do.

The third one, don't argue or complain over unimportant or petty things. We all have all kinds of opinions about government regulations, about all kinds of things. Christians ought not be people who are known for their complaining, even if it's about politics.

But with all of that as our basic posture, there is a right time to stand. There's a just way to say, "This is what is righteous, and I'm going to pursue righteousness." You say, "Well, I- they, they don't make decisions I agree with. I'm not in control of all the outcomes." No, you're not. Your responsibility is for you. And my responsibility is for me. Pursue what is good, pursue what is righteousness.

This is counter-cultural. Don't be bullied into thinking that you have to be an outraged troublemaker to pursue good. You go on YouTube, there are people who peddle, it's like it's their whole way they operate is to be outraged and to complain about everything. Why? Because people view it. That's the currency. It's attention. If enough people view their YouTube, then they're set, so they have to provoke outrage. Christians ought to be people who stand for peace and righteousness. And who pursue good for the place that they live.

So if we go back and ask the question again in that context, say, how do you pursue good when there seems to be an unfair power imbalance? How do you pursue what's really good? Well, your basic posture is to say, "I'm going to live well, to do whatever my job, my task is. I'm gonna do it well. I'm gonna not complain about all the little petty things. I'm gonna not be angry about the little petty things. I'm going to not throw away opportunity for influence. But when I need to stand for righteousness, even against the authority, I do."

What If My Authority is Wicked?

Jed Gillis: So maybe there's another harder question, not just what if the ruler, the king, the elected official, the boss, whoever it is, not just what if they make decisions I don't like, what if they're wicked? What if it's not just a preference thing? You go, "This is really wrong."

Well, he goes on in verse eight and gives us this picture, second half of verse eight, "There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those given to it."

So he mentions war. Let's use this picture. If you imagine you are storming the beaches at D-Day. Now, you can be coming out of an amphibious craft, you can get scared, but there's nowhere to go. It's not like you can turn around and run the other direction. There's no way to just desert at that moment and there's no way to just go, "Hey, I think I changed my mind. I don't wanna be in the army." I don't doubt that everybody who stormed the beaches thought, "I don't really wanna be here right now." But their courage said, "I'm going to continue anyway because there's no shortcut through this. There's no safe way to get out. There's no discharge from war.

And his parallel here is to say this, just like there's no escape from war, if you start into wickedness and you live by wickedness, there's no way wickedness is gonna deliver you to something good.

Because remember, one of the questions, the second problem I mentioned earlier was, what if the wicked seem to prosper? What if wickedness seems to pay off? So he comes here and he says, "It might look like that, but wickedness never delivers those who are given over to it." Or we use this phrase, "Those who live by the sword die by the sword."

He's telling you, you can't make this kind of deal with the devil for control that says, "I'm gonna be wicked in this little area that's gonna control my life so it turns out the way I want to, so it'll all end up fine in the end." It's like you can try that, but at the end of the day, wickedness doesn't deliver those who are given to it.

And I want you, w- when I say the word wicked in this context, get a mental image of what that is. When you say the person who has power over you is wicked, okay, we have a mental image. But Solomon invites you to think more closely, maybe about a different kind of wickedness. Notice the way he describes them in verse 10, "They used to go in and out of the holy place."

So if your version of wicked when I said to get a mental image was drug dealing gang boss. That's not really what he's talking about. Actually, he draws us to think about the religiously hypocritical wicked person. He says, "I thought about the wicked," and these were the people who showed up at church And they looked really good and they said the right words.

Not only that, but notice it says they were praised in the city where they had done these things. So not the wicked that everybody agrees, "Oh, they're a bad person," but the kind where they're being praised because they show up.

For example, maybe you saw on the news fairly recently there was a, a pastor who would travel and speak, and he was just arrested for sending inappropriate pictures to a young man, which had been going on for a while. But for years before he was arrested, he was praised in and out of the holy places. That's wicked.

That's wicked in a way that Solomon is driving us to think about what about that person? What if you say, "That person is wicked, but everybody seems to praise them." It's not fair. That person's wicked, but they say they're following God and they love God. It's not fair.

He wants you to think about that, and he concludes that thought in verse 10 with this statement, "This also is vanity." This is fleeting. The praise they got is fleeting.

Sometimes we see it in this life. We see the guy who just got arrested, and it doesn't matter what they said about him three months ago. It's fleeting. We see the guy who comes to church, the person who is saying all the right words, but at home, they're an absolute terror. Which happens. And we think they're wicked but they seem to be getting away with it. That's not fair.

Solomon says, "I saw the wicked buried." Life on this earth, even if they seem to get away with it until death, life on this earth is not the only thing there is. So he continues to think in verse 11, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil."

These people that he's referring to, these wicked people, they try some wickedness out and it seems to work, and they don't see any punishment so they keep doing it. And they keep doing it. And because the sentence is delayed, it feels like there's no punishment, so they think, If I'm just wicked, I get to grab control through whatever wicked means I want- They think delayed punishment means there won't be any punishment. But that's not true. Solomon drives us to think there is something beyond life right now. Wickedness won't deliver them.

Pursue Good, Not Control

Jed Gillis: So, in the daily struggles that we have in a fallen world, when we see here's a ruler, he makes decisions I don't agree with, how on earth am I supposed to handle that? It's not fair. Or here's a wicked ruler. And he seems to get away with it because of his wickedness. That's not fair. How on earth do I deal with that in the daily life?

Solomon's saying, "Look, you still don't have to pursue control." That's my temptation. I think, "That's way too scary. That seems so unfair. I'm gonna control my life." Solomon says, "No, you can pursue good instead of control. You can pursue righteousness instead of control." Just like Daniel, "I'm gonna worship God. I can't control what happens with the lions' den." Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We're not bowing down to that statue, but we can't control what happens with the furnace. You don't control your outcomes, but you say, "I love God enough. I want to follow after what He has said. I live for that righteousness, and the consequences that come to my life aren't up to me to control."

You can pursue good instead of control even though sometimes the wicked seem powerful. Even though, as he described, sometimes what happens to the righteous person is what we think should happens to the wicked person in this life. Even though that looks wrong to us, we can pursue good instead of control because we know, as Solomon says, "It will be well with those who fear God because they fear before Him."

It will be well with those who trust God in such a way that their relationship to him is right. That they say, "Yes, I'll worship him and him alone, and I'm not bowing before the king, and I'm not bowing before the statue, and I'm gonna keep praying to him, and I'm gonna pursue what's right no matter what happens to me. No matter what wickedness seems to prosper, because it will be well, good with those who fear God."

Look for Joy

Jed Gillis: Now here's something interesting in this text. At the beginning, there's a few commands. He says to the servant, "Keep the king's command. Don't be hasty to leave his presence." After that part, after we get through really verse three, there's no commands for this whole section.

There are implied things. You should fear God, but he doesn't tell you, command, "Fear God." There are implied things like don't pursue wickedness, but he doesn't technically tell you that. He doesn't command you that. He just says it won't pay off in the end.

But we get down to the end, and he does give you commands. Verse 15, "I commend joy, for this is what is good, for man has nothing better. There's no good better than this, the best good you can have under the sun, to eat and drink and be joyful. For this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun."

Life's not fair, the wicked seem to prosper, it's scary to not be in control. He says, "Look for joy."

Like Solomon, that's really naive, right? You know, the reason it sounds so naive is because despite the fact that we're proven again and again I can't control all of my outcomes, I still want to.

Solomon says, "No, here's what you do. You're supposed to fear God, yes." That's not stated as a command, though it is in other places. What's stated as a command is pursue joy. Find the joyful things. When life feels so unfair, when the powerful make bad decisions, and when the wicked seem to prosper, pursue joy from God. I'll add that part on the end 'cause the wicked think they're pursuing joy, but not in a way that's righteous. Pursue joy from God. When you feel out of control, don't be driven by fear, pursue joy.

This is his summary in the whole book. It sounds so simple when you say it this way, I know. Keep in mind, this is Solomon who writes a whole complicated philosophical book, but he gets to a simple answer. The summarized message if you say pursue what is good is this. Enjoy God, enjoy his good gifts, and enjoy your work or doing good.

I've mentioned this before, but Solomon uses the word joy more times in Ecclesiastes than he uses the word vanity. Most of the time we don't think about that when we read it because vanity kinda pops out at us. But he actually talks about joy far more.

In the ups and downs of life, enjoy God, enjoy His good gifts, and enjoy the work or the, the good works that He puts in front of you. Pursue joy in that. In the toil, notice he says here, "This will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun." God wants you to do fruitful, good things, and He wants you to enjoy it.

He doesn't want you to think if I could be wicked, I would really enjoy life, but since I can't, I've gotta just be dutiful and do what's right over here No. That's not our God. Our God says, "I prepared good works for you that you would walk in them," Ephesians 2. He says, "Enjoy them."

Say, "But my good works can't control the outcomes." No, they can't, and you'll ruin them if you try to make them control the outcome. You won't enjoy them because they're not good enough.

We do this relationally. We go, like within a marriage, "How can I love my spouse, but I've gotta make sure the outcome turns out? They've gotta respond in the right way." And it pollutes everything. Instead of saying, "God's given me a good work right here. I'm gonna enjoy loving my spouse.

We parent that way sometimes. We think, "I've got good work to parent, but what if my child doesn't turn out the way I want them to?" And we get all worried and upset, which I understand. But it can pollute the parenting so you don't enjoy it anymore because you're trying to control it. And instead, God has given you as parents or grandparents the opportunity to influence precious souls. You get to love them. Souls made in the image of God who have all of these beautiful things about them. So enjoy it.

Pursue joy even when it feels unfair, even when it feels like you're out of control.

Find Joy in What Feels Unfair

Jed Gillis: So here's what I want to ask you to do this week. I want you to think of an area in your life where life feels unfair and you feel like you can't do anything about it.

So that could be thinking about the government and the way that we live in this world. That could be thinking about my boss. We've used those two, but it could be something totally different. It could be your relationships within the home as a parent or as a spouse. Could be your relationship with your parents. It could be your financial context. Could be a lot of things.

Find something that you feel like it's unfair and you feel like you can't do anything about it, some area. If you have a hard time finding that, I doubt you do, but if you do, think about the places you feel most anxious and most out of control. You'll find some right around those same places.

Now, within that sphere, whatever it is, this feels unfair, I can't do anything about it, got three questions for you to think about for this week.

What Would It Look Like to Enjoy God in That Area?

Jed Gillis: One, what would it look like in that area to enjoy God this week?

So if you think, "Here's what's going on in our world, and I really hate the way whatever in politics is working out. I think it's awful," one way you could enjoy God is to say, "But God raises up kings. He is powerful. And while this seems unfair, He's a just judge." And you sit here and you say, "How do I enjoy God?"

How Can I Enjoy God's Good Gifts in That Area?

Jed Gillis: Then, what does it look like for me to enjoy God's good gifts in that area? Maybe it's a relationship within your home, your, your spouse or your kids, and you say, "God has given me this opportunity, so I enjoy God." But even within, no matter how rough and difficult that is- God has given goodness to you in it. It might be hard to find sometimes. Say, "What good gifts has God given me?"

Politically, you might disagree with all kinds of things that happen in our government, but you experience a whole lot of good freedoms that people did not experience many times in the world. So enjoy God's good gifts. Enjoy God, enjoy His good gifts. In the area that you most feel this is unfair and I can't do anything about it, say, "God, what good gifts are here that I can find?"

If you feel like you can't think of any, it's okay. Go to your Father. He knows that. Say, "God, I don't see any good gifts. Would you show me? Would you show me where there are good gifts here that I can enjoy?"

Finding and Enjoying Good Work in That Area

Jed Gillis: And then the third thing, what does it look like to enjoy good work, good, fruitful work in that area? Is there something I can actually pursue that's good?

So I can't shape the way our big culture works. I can't shape the way government decides about this. Sure. Can you love the neighbor next to you who disagrees with you politically this week? It's like, "I can do that." Can you show kindness to them in some way this week?

If it's within your, your workplace, say, "They're making decisions I don't like. I feel stuck. I can't change it. I think it's gonna end badly." Now, you can certainly go look for another job. That's an option. But say, "What can I do that is a good work? How do I do this job well while I'm here?" And not only do it well with a sour attitude, but do it well to say, "God's given me this good work to enjoy right now. How do I enjoy it?"

If we spent more time enjoying God, His good gifts, and the good work He puts in front of us, and less time wrapped up in anxiety because we can't control the outcomes, our experience of what's unfair right now would be very different. So enjoy God enjoy His good gifts and enjoy the good works He gives you.

I want to give you a moment to respond to God in prayer. Really, we don't have enough time to do all the response that we should do to God at this time in our Sunday morning. So maybe it's just for jotting down, "Here's some things I wanna go back and think about. Here's an area that feels unfair. Here's some questions about how I enjoy God and His gifts and the good work He puts in front of me." Maybe it's jotting down a few things. Maybe it's spend time in prayer. But I wanna give you a few moments to respond to God in silence, and then I'll ask the music team to go ahead and come up, and we'll sing to conclude our service.