“As you do not know the way the Spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” (Ecclesiastes 11:5).

I’ve come to realize that one of the most frustrating things we face in life is when stuff is happening all around us and we just can’t figure it all out. Sometimes in retrospect we can make sense of it, but there are times when we must settle into the realization that the events we may have just experienced have no satisfactory explanation, at least to us. You see, if you are wired like me, you want to know what’s going on, why, and the overall purpose of what is transpiring. We are all like that, aren’t we?

Well, I think you would readily agree that there are times when life unfolds in a manner that affords us little if any indication of what is taking place, why, and what the purpose is. That’s very frustrating. Even during difficult seasons, we seem better able to bear up if we have some understanding of what’s going on and why. But when difficult things happen and we can make no sense whatsoever of them, it’s easy to become discouraged. Somehow knowing there is a purpose in pain makes it easier to bear.

If you have ever felt frustrated because you simply could not understand what was going on around you, you are in very good company. You see, the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, experienced the same thing. The verse cited above reflects his confusion at the events he recorded in chapter 11 of the book of Ecclesiastes. Ultimately,” after pondering deeply on things he could not explain, he came to the place of saying, “Rejoice and let your heart cheer you. Remove vexation from your heart.” In other words, pursue joy in God and cease from tearing yourself apart trying to figure out all that’s taking place around you. That’s good advice; would you agree?

Now how does this apply for you and me? Well, I know that as our lives progress, there are many things we simply do not understand, no matter how much sense we seek to make of them. Solomon reached the place of affirming that “God makes everything.” Thus, as the author of everything, God never initiates the events of our lives without having his purpose in mind. Did you hear that; “his purpose in mind?” Consider this; where does it say that God is obligated to explain his purposes to us as he oversees the events of our lives?

So, God makes everything, as Solomon affirmed. There are times we do not understand all that he initiates. Nonetheless, as the initiator of everything, our posture must be to find comfort and joy in his sovereignty and his actions, regardless of whether we understand or not. How might that apply to the confusing events you are living through right now? Good question!