“For all of this I set my heart to — to examine all these things which the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Also that love and even hate are not known by man, yet both are before him.”

(Ecclesiastes 9:1)

As we saw in the previous verses, Solomon has shifted to reflecting on God’s sovereignty — and here we get as plain a statement as any as to the matter: All things that are done are in the hand of God even though man does not always understand such things. We face instances in our lives where we will love and where we will hate…or where we will face the hatred of others. And while we may not understand these things and while our minds may be boggled by the hatred that some people will have in their hearts, all these things are held in the hands of God. He is sovereign and has a purpose and a plan for even the most wicked of events…in each case, ordaining and using the sin of man in a sinless way.

Jesus says that there will be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), yet be at peace because the end is not yet. Too often people give up on the world around them thinking that with all of the bad things taking place, Jesus must be coming in the near future (as we, humans, refer to nearness). Yet it has not been God’s timing. The end days began at the Resurrection of Christ (Hebrews 1:2) and we (the Church) have been working in the world and waiting ever since. The answer to the wars and violence in our world today is not that we retreat and wait for Jesus to return; the answer is to engage this world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These events that take place around us — shootings in Pittsburgh, wars in Ukraine, and evil acts perpetrated against the poor and the weak all around us — they should remind us first of the urgency to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to these people. All too often the church is silent; it is time for the church to rise up and be the church — being a buttress and pillar of Truth, tearing down the strongholds of hell all around us, and pointing people toward the only savior — the only name by which man may be saved — Jesus Christ. Good works and good thoughts only leave us condemned — the world needs a redeemer and we have been given the task of going and making disciples of all men.