Perfect Conditions

If you wait for perfect conditions,
you will never get anything done.
Ecclesiastes 11:4
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What are perfect conditions?
What gives us the "go ahead" in life?
Who makes the rules that we follow?

Every day we are met with questions for the day. What shall we do? Where shall we go? Which way should we turn? Should we take that job? Go on that trip? Select that school? And what if we make the "wrong" decision for us, for our child, for our family? Will it be some fatal mistake that can never be corrected?

Most of us want to do what is right, but where do we go for the right answers? To God? What if we can't hear His voice? What if we're not sure if it was His voice we heard or simply one in our own head? Then what?

Lots of questions, I know, but aren't we all looking for answers? I know I am. I want to do what God's will is for my life, but I'm not always so certain just what that is on any given day. This morning as I was listening to a simple song, the words sank into my heart...

I walk with God
In the morning when I wake to seek His face
And all throughout the day I feel His grace, to lead me on my way
I walk with God.

He is my peace, I can feel His gentle Spirit speak to me
Bringing me the confidence I need to take a stand against the enemy
I walk with God, all throughout the day, I walk with God
He leads me in His ways, I walk with God
(Intimate Moments CD--J.Meyer Ministries)
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Adam and Eve walked with God. They talked with God, and spent their day with Him. I wonder if they put their hand in His and walked along, enjoying the garden? How simple, how serene, how wonderful!!

I want to put my hand in God's and walk along. I don't want to run, or hurry, or be confused. I long for simplicity and peace. But you know what? Even that has to be worked for, otherwise it gets lost in the confusion of each day. It gets buried under all the things that need to be done, and the decisions that need to be made. How quickly it gets lost!

Where does it go? It disappears in the air of life somehow. Before we leave our bed in the morning, the day's events start to run through our brains. The enemy probably knows if he can grab our attention first, then God doesn't have much of a chance. If he can start lining things up for us to do, then how can we possibly find the time to "walk with God?" So then we jump out of bed, into the shower, and on with our day...not walking with God.

In reading Ecclesiastes this morning, it mentions more than once how meaningless life is. The second verse in the very first chapter says, "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "Utterly meaningless!" It goes on and on about the meaninglessness of everything in life. It seems to paint a pretty bleak picture of what we are even doing here and I wondered why God even wanted these verses in the Bible. Didn't He create us for better things? What was Solomon saying here? Was the Bible contradicting itself? Isn't there some meaning in our being here?

Of course there is! God gives us that meaning! Jesus Christ gives us that meaning!! This was written in the days of old, before our Savior came to give us eternity with Him. This was written by Solomon as he searched for satisfaction in life when God was not included. Of course Solomon would feel that way. Futility is a natural emotion to feel when we still have that empty hole inside that needs to be filled. I remember feeling that way before I believed. I remember wondering why we come here for 80 years or so and then just die away. It didn't make sense to me before I accepted the gift of eternal life. Now it is clear. Jesus is the one who came and changed everything written about in these verses. Life is not futile, it is full of meaning.

After the fall in the garden, we toil our way through life. It is difficult, there is great sadness, there is great hurt, there's lots of hard work and we get exhausted sometimes before we even get out of bed because of all that needs to be done. And just like in the garden, the enemy wants us to be distracted with all of that. He wants us to think it is all meaningless. He wants to draw our attention to the "apple" and have us take a bite, leaving only the taste of bitterness in our mouths. He wants us to think life is very unfair, that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, that there is futility in wisdom, in pleasure, in work, in wealth just as is written about in Ecclesiastes. And so we try harder and harder to make these things work, to have them make sense, the find some joy in them, but the harder we strive for that, the more disappointed we become. That is what the "teacher" was talking about. He had done it all, he had great riches, great wisdom, everything he could ever want and it meant nothing to him when it was all over, because he needed God.

What do people get for all their hard work?
Generations come and go, but nothing really changes--

Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how
much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter
how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself.
Ecclesiastes 1:3-4 & 8-9
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I'm tired just thinking about it, aren't you? What a bleak picture if it is all so meaningless! If the wealthiest and wisest person to ever live feels this way, should we be surprised that we feel the same? What are we working for when life seems to be so unfair anyway? The good die young, the wicked live to old age.

But then I read in Ecc. 3:22:
So I saw that there is nothing better for people
than to be happy in their work.
That is why they are here!
No one will bring them back from death
to enjoy life in the future.
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This is the Old Testament. This is the old Law, the old way before Jesus Christ came to show us the meaning of life. Jesus came to bring us hope and a future, and a reason for being here. He came to show us that we can walk with God once again, as it was designed in the beginning, and when we do, there is no such thing as meaningless. Everything has meaning, everything has a purpose, a plan and a reason for the way that it is. God has not left us, not deserted us, not abandoned us to a meaningless life here on earth. He has brought us here to prepare us for better things, for the best that is yet to come! Thank you Jesus!

Let's turn this around, let's pump some hope back into our everyday existence and really live as we are called to live! Let's get up in the morning and place our hand in God's and walk with Him through our day! Let's not complicate the issue with our worldly wisdom and miss out on the simplicity of loving God as a child loves their parent.

As children, we want to grow up. We want to be a grown up so that we can do "anything we want." We think that is where our freedom will be found. Then when we do grow up, we find that we have more rules than ever before. More restrictions, more people telling us what to do than we would have ever imagined, and sometimes we may even long for the simplicity of childhood again, when someone was taking care of us and we could just run outside and play! But now we live in the grown-up world and there seems to be no turning back. The responsibilities are there and will always be there until our dying day. What have we gotten ourselves into?

Is this what the "teacher" was talking about. Just being on that path that leads to nowhere? Working and working, for what? Pleasures that then seem meaningless? It doesn't have to be. We were not created for that. We were created to enjoy being the sons and daughters of God our Father. We were created to enjoy a relationship with Him. That relationship was broken in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, it was restored. The second half of the book gets better! There is a happy ending, and there is a road of joy that leads us there if we will only look for it.

Life is tough, tears are many, problems abound, and what do we do with all of that? Take it to God daily as a child would. Tell Him that we are confused, that we are scared, that we are overwhelmed, and talk it over with Him. Start our day by handing the day over to Him and getting the enemy out of the way as quickly as possible! Find meaning in our day in our relationship with our Creator. Don't expect to get all the answers we are looking for, but keep looking for them. Don't get frustrated that the will of God seems unknown to us, but keep looking for it. What God wants is a heart that searches for Him, that longs for Him, and that wants to follow in His ways. What the enemy tells us is that if we make a mistake and miss the path that God wants us on, we will be a failure. It will be a disaster and we will never recover from it! Wrong! God knows that we will make mistakes, that sometimes we will have trouble knowing what He wants for us to do, but He knows our hearts above all else. He wants us to delight ourselves in Him, and Him alone, and the rest will be a piece of cake because He is the sweetness in life. He is what makes it rich and rewarding and meaningful.

If we wait for "perfect conditions" we will never get anything done. If we don't take a step of faith after seeking God's will because we're not 100 percent sure it is the right direction, we may miss the greatest blessings in our lives. If we are honest with God and truly want His will and we go in the wrong direction, He will still be with us because He already knew we were going to do just that. He will guide us back to Him, because He wants that none should be lost! He will come and look for us and carry us back to the fold in very loving arms. He wants us to walk with Him to this day, just as He designed Adam and Eve to do. How His heart must have broken when they chose the bitterness of the "apple" instead of the sweetness of His love. How He must have mourned for His loss and longed to restore our relationship with Him again. How it must have hurt Him to have even a wise "teacher" look at life as meaningless when He created it for so much more.

That is why He sent His only Son to die for us. Because He loves us that much. Because He wants us to walk with Him that much, and talk with Him that much. It was that important to Him, and we miss it when we drown in the confusion of life. When we jump out of bed already deep in the lies of the enemy about what is important in our day.

Perhaps that is why when Jesus was 12 years old and was seemingly lost to his parents in Jerusalem after the Passover festival, he was found with the teachers.

When they couldn't find him they went back
to Jerusalem to search for him there.
Three days later they finally discovered him.
He was in the Temple, sitting among the
religious teachers, discussing deep questions with them.
And all who heard him were amazed at his
understanding and his answers.
Luke 2:45-47
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Solomon was so very wise, and these teachers were surely aware of how he taught on the meaninglessness of life, and yet here was a young boy with an amazing understanding beyond His years, bringing some meaning back into their questions about life.

Jesus is the way, He is the truth, and He has the answers we are searching for. He has provided the meaning that we all need in each day we live. When nothing makes sense, He does. When everything hurts, He comforts. When all seems to be lost, He restores Hope.

When we don't know which way to turn or what to do next and we are frozen in our tracks waiting for the perfect conditions to move ahead, He has paved the way and only asks that we give Him our heart for the journey. He goes ahead to prepare the way if we will only look for it and not be afraid.

We have many teachers on this earth, but only one Teacher! And this is what He taught:

"Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or
make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not
dressed as beautifully as they are.
And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here
today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you?
You have so little faith! And don't worry about food--what to eat
and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. These
things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father
already knows your needs. He will give you all you need from
day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness
to give you the Kingdom."
Luke 12:27-32
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Usually when I write, God has recently taught me the lessons I share. Not so with this one. The very thoughts I write about are the very things I was struggling with also. It seemed that God was saying to write it out, and I will clarify it for you as you go along. With this last verse, He has done just that. These worries can dominate our thoughts but God already knows our needs. As long as our heart is for Him, as long as we make the Kingdom of God our primary concern, He will take care of the day to day needs.

Jim and I are walking by faith, we are traveling by faith in our RV, and just like everyone else, we sometimes think the conditions need to be perfect before we move ahead. I am learning that the conditions will never be perfect because then where would faith come in? If we knew exactly what was ahead, we could depend on ourselves and have no need of God's wisdom in our lives. We would not need to walk with Him daily or seek His companionship in our "travels."

The conditions don't need to be perfect when walking by faith, only the heart needs to be ready for service.

"Be dressed for service and well prepared, as though you were
waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then
you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment
he arrives and knocks.---
"You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come
when least expected."
Luke 12:35-36 & 40
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When Jesus returns, the conditions won't be perfect--there will be wars and famine, we will be caught by surprise--he'll come like a thief in the night, but we won't be caught ill-prepared if we are walking with God daily and seeking His will for our lives. We may not be as wise as Solomon or as all-knowing as our Teacher, Jesus Christ, but we can be fully devoted to our Savior each day and looking forward to His return at any moment--then our hearts will be in perfect condition when Jesus returns to take us Home, even if nothing else is. God is not looking for perfection in us, Jesus Christ alone has made us perfect. God is looking to see if we are looking to Him.

Living in His peace and joy,
Diane