No 9

(Ecclesiastes 3:11)

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

This is one of my most beloved passages in Scripture. It was written by Solomon who had seen everything the world had to offer at the time and, yet, he still could not see the whole spectrum of God’s providence; he penned these words towards the end of his life and saw that everything was vanity of vanities. He had come to the realisation that God had placed a yearning in his heart that could not be satisfied by earthly means.

This passage is like as if the Lord wants us to search Him out just by the fact that we are alive and that there is this longing in our hearts for things spiritual. A story is told about a tribal chief in Africa who was walking in the jungle one day and saw a beautiful blue flower; probably a orchid. He said to himself “I would like to meet the God who made this flower.” A few weeks later, a missionary showed up in the chief’s village and began to speak of the God of the Bible. Immediately, the chief said “Heh, that’s the God of the blue flower!” The missionary had probably spoken of God’s creation and this had evoked the chief’s thoughts of the blue flower and his desire to know its creator. The missionary asked what he meant and the chief explained his story; the Lord had awakened his heart to search out spiritual comfort and the Lord was faithful. The whole tribe became believers right on the spot because of the chief’s decision.

It is my conviction that if someone seeks to know the Lord with a true heart, He will arrange for someone like the missionary to cross this person’s path; a bit like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27. The Holy Spirit seeks and finds souls who are ready to hear the Gospel; it’s up to us as Christians to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15.