On one level, you wish there were. On another level, I guess we are all glad there is not.
This day last year, no one would have ever guessed we would be in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. In fact, my predictions for 2020 did not include anything close to a pandemic. I guessed the economy would be rolling by the end of 2020 and that President Trump would easily be reelected. The economy did well and many still argue over the election. I did not see the pandemic at all. I expected 2020 to be one of the best and most peaceful years internationally in our memory.
What happened? A pandemic happened. Economies changed. The pandemic interrupted American politics. Instead of one of the best years internationally that would just disappear into the sunset, 2020 became one of a handful of years that will forever change the way we talk about American history.
So what about 2021? In today’s blog, we will look forward into 2021 and consider some predictions for it.
Solomon’s Wisdom Still Guides Us
According to the Bible, King Solomon reigns as the wisest man to ever live. The parts of Scripture he penned still guide people every day. Who can do better than he? As a rhetorical question, no one. There is much still to learn from him and the Scriptures as we seek to make clear application to our present times. He helps us. Over the next few lines I am quoting a bit longer text than normal to help us consider 2021. Solomon wrote:
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put darkness in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
14 I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
15 That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past. (Eccl 3:1-15)
Although a bit longer quote than normal for a typical blog, this text provides us a paradigm through which to consider the year before us.
6 Principles for Looking Forward into 2021
1. God orchestrates our lives with seasons (v. 1).
Life is seasonal. Just as seasons come and go annually, so do the seasons of life. God orchestrates life with an ebb and flow, and ups and downs. Whatever is happening in your life today is part of this season. This season passes as have others. If you regard this season as the best ever, then enjoy every minute of it. If you consider this season as particularly burdensome, just remember that this season will pass.
2. God’s plan includes the full breadth of human experience (vv. 2-8).
As the seasons come and go, Solomon reminds us that God includes everything in life. He uses 14 couplets to help us understand the full breadth of human experience – which as a group make up the various seasons. For example consider “a time to be born and a time to die.” Birth and death are opposites of each other. The way Solomon writes it, he includes the opposites and everything else in between. A person is born. A person dies. In between those two points, the person lives many other days. In God’s season, all of those events fit.
3. God does not let us see what comes next (vv. 9-11).
Every person seeks to make sense of life. We never live and leave life alone. Instead, we want to interpret our lives, understand what went on in the past, and be able to predict the future. We all equally live this way. None of us our exempt from this task. Solomon calls it the God-given task that occupies all of us. We want to make heads and tails of life. Yet, although we strive to interpret our lives this way, God refuses to let us. He instead places darkness in our hearts such that we cannot see everything. His goal is not for us to see everything; instead, we are to trust Him in the midst of the seasons.
Do not miss the statement, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” This simply means that all these seasons and what’s inside fit perfectly as part of God’s plan for us individually and for mankind.
4. God instructs us what to do in the various seasons (vv. 12-13).
Solomon tells us how to respond in the midst of these seasons. He explains that nothing is better for us in the midst of a particular season than for us to rejoice, and to do good in our lives. God desires for us by His grace to make choices to handle life not simply react to it. He continues, “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor.” He identifies eating, drinking, and enjoying the good of your labor (and later in the book relationships) as how we respond by grace. These fundamental blessings of life are ours to enjoy. Eating. Drinking. Work. Relationships. Whatever is on your plate as your portion in this season, respond to those things while eating, drinking, working, and enjoying relationships for the glory of God. Essentially, it is one step after another after another of choosing to respond to this season by God’s grace – Rejoice in God and do good as you eat, drink, work, and have relationships.
5. God gives us this as a gift to us (vv. 12-13).
Whatever season you are in at this moment, whatever is going on in that season, and however you seek to interpret it, know this: God gives you the ability to honor Him in the midst of it as a gift. Whatever is on your plate at this moment, that is your portion. As such, that portion and your ability to live life through it in a way that honors God is God’s gift to you. In essence, God’s character and work allows you to embrace today for what it is and trust God in it. How? God’s grace makes this possible because it is the gift of God.
6. God desires us to fear and trust Him alone (vv. 14-15).
Solomon explains that God has a plan and is in control. God quietly works His plan for all mankind and for each of us individually. God does not arrange the seasons so that we can simply understand them; He arranges the seasons so that we will grow in the fear of God. God desires us even in the midst of our own desires to make sense out of life to trust Him. He controls the seasons and everything in them. We trust His control, respect Him, trust Him, and obey Him. God controls the seasons; we respond by His grace to them in faithful trust and obedience.
How do these apply then to 2021?
When you apply these six principles to 2021, we would make the following four implications:
First, we do not know what 2021 holds. We do not know what season we are in or what season is next.
Second, we do know that God knows. God continues to work out His plan for mankind and us individually.
Third, we need to strive to trust God, respect God, and obey God in the midst of this season.
Fourth, we do this best by rejoicing in God and doing good as we eat, drink, work, and engage in relationships for His glory.
Image Credit Vladislav Murashko
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