“Cast your bread upon the waters.” Ecclesiastes 11:1 NKJV.
God directs the affairs of men with wise benevolence.
My thoughts and comments today are about “wise benevolence.”
Theologians of a previous era wrote often of the providence of God, describing it as, “The care and character of Almighty God who with foresight and omniscience directs the affairs of men with wise benevolence.” Your life is more providential than you might realize. Will you abandon your carefully devised plans? Trust your Heavenly Father, who is the Almighty God, to provide for you by means of His “omniscience and wise benevolence.”
(1) Let your generosity be deliberate and unmeasured. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again . . (your gifts will return to you later).” Ecclesiastes 11:1 NIV/NLT. To me, the phrasing of this verse suggests an open-hearted lifestyle of liberality toward God and others, with no personal constraints as to what and when the return will be. The Biblical concept is the surrender of predictability. You can determine neither the source nor the time of your compensation. Such carefree release is a wonderful thing. Isaiah understood this elementary trust, “What is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” Isaiah 49:4 NIV. If and when others do not respond as you expect, trust your disappointment to God who always rewards righteously. God will be no man’s debtor.
(2) Liberality is a lifestyle for times good and bad. “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 NIV. The limits of one’s foresight makes predicting what will or will not be beneficial a waste of time. ”Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” Proverbs 3:27 NKJV. A content and confident life results from abandoning your cautions to God’s wise and provident reward. Rest your heart and hopes in the wise benevolence and providence of God. Your own or others’ forecast of your future will be inaccurate.
“(3) Life is tiring when you hold things too tightly. “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11:6 NIV. Solomon observed, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:24-25 NIV. God can only multiply and return what you will release. Choose to refresh others and discover the path to being refreshed.
Today, I pray for you that every word or act of kindness will bring multiple joys.
Christian Communications
