A Daunting Task
Arriving on the mission field is intimidating. It took a lot of work to get here. Yet the true work is ahead, daunting and massive. It's time to get to work! Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Can’t go around it. Gotta get through it. Yet, “just getting through it” isn’t good enough. Setting out on the field happens because of a conviction for the kingdom and a dedication to the mission. But conviction doesn't make the task easier. If only there was a way to fast forward to life as an established church! Dedication doesn't remove doubts. What if the only future ahead is failure? There is a real possibility that, by an earthly metric, this will be a fruitless endeavor. It's also possible that the mission will appear to bear fruit - yet those shoots of grain could wither.
These worries keep me up at night. Could this just be an exercise in futility? Is this just an opportunity to expose my arrogance? I raised money for this - did I unintentionally con the church into a failing financial investment? How dare I think that other countries need me?
It’s all vanity. Aren’t these simply steps toward an unreachable goal? Why should I work hard when I can’t know how it's going to work out? Has my life just been wasted moments until now?
The Preacher's Perspective
Praise the Lord, I’m not the first person to ask this question. In God’s eternal kindness, this is a biblical question. It's a divinely inspired question. In Ecclesiastes, the Preacher was pushed to this question. He gives us a powerful perspective. Despite our inability to make sense of our world – the difficulties, the big picture, the meaning of moments – we worship a God who not only sees all things but also sovereignly ordains all things. It is this reminder from the book of Ecclesiastes that comforts the weary heart.
After wrestling through the futility of work, wisdom, pleasure, and possessions, the Preacher remarks that there is an appointed time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This means that despite the intrusion of wandering thoughts and creeping doubts, the seasons of life are sovereignly ordained. More importantly, it also means that there is One who exists in transcendental glory, One who is above the futility of life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:3). There is a Creator, and He rules His creation.
This Creator is not some aloof, distant idea. He created us in His image, and “set eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). What does that mean? Setting eternity in our hearts is not access to the mysteries of life, a full, perfect vision of reality. Rather, as David Gibson notes in Living Life Backwards, it means a yearning and longing to understand, a desire to make sense of the difficulties of our lives. And the only feasible way to do that is for us to turn our hearts and minds outward, away from ourselves, towards the God who orders creation, and towards true wisdom. God has designed us to search for Him, to long for Him, and to be unsatisfied apart from Him.
In difficult seasons, the knowledge of a Creator God, and awareness that our questions drive us to seek Him is a blessing. Like the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, our questions and trials lead us to seek wisdom. James 1 suggests that trials lead to our being made complete (James 1:4). Interestingly, in the very next verse (James 1:5), James contrasts that completion with lacking wisdom. In other words, there’s a connection between wisdom and the design of trials. But it isn’t just an abstract wisdom that we seek. There are three important elements by which we can recognize true wisdom:
The Big Picture
First, wisdom is aware of the bigger picture. The Preacher notes that men and their deeds are “in the hand of God” (Ecclesiastes 9:1). The Creator God, who sovereignly ordains whatsoever comes to pass, is not a God without a plan. Scripture is replete with examples of God’s plans dumbfounding humanity until the final moment. Consider Joseph and his brothers! Or, more potently, consider the apparent foolishness of the cross! Wisdom acknowledges that there is a big picture that we are unable to fully appreciate.
The late pastor Harry Reeder frequently used an illustration of a woven tapestry. In life, we only see only the back of the tapestry. Furthermore, our vision is limited to the seemingly unremarkable image of our own frayed threads. Perhaps, if we were fortunate, we could see some semblance of a pattern emerging from the threads around us. However, the ultimate reality is invisible to our eyes. It's hard to see how our efforts apply to the bigger picture. Yet, the warp and woof of the tapestry is, in God’s gracious, grand design, made up of innumerable threads linked together. God’s history of redemption involves people from every tribe and tongue. God redeemed not only His people from the nations but their imperfect lives and efforts. There is a beauty to be revealed only in the fullness of time.
David Gibson points out that God sees the entirety of His plan perfectly and He will retrieve and redeem every moment. In other words, there are no lost moments. God’s work endures forever, and He seeks those things that have been driven away (Ecclesiastes 3:15). The encouragement from knowing this is incredible. All the grueling work, the sweat and tears, the long nights, the hard decisions–these will be redeemed. Our relatively small moments will never get lost in the big picture.
Wisdom From Above
Second, wisdom is external. The solution to doubts and fears is not to “look deep within” as self-help books suggest. It's not wisdom from within that I need. James writes that there is wisdom that is from above (James 3:17). Furthermore, that wisdom is not forcibly taken or earned, but given (James 1). In the Proverbs, wisdom is something outside that needs to come in (Proverbs 2:10; 3:13; 4:5). To press onward toward the prize, to maintain an eternal perspective (2 Corinthians 4:17), and to recognize that God works all things for good, we need wisdom from above.
Sure, it’s easy enough to acknowledge intellectually that God has the plan and the power, yet how often do we decide to take matters into our own hands? Abraham and Sarah would surely attest to the folly of their ways. Even as they recognized who God was and knew that God had intended to bless their patience with a son, they resorted to worldly, internal wisdom. God’s wisdom said “Wait”, and worldly wisdom said, “Take.” While it is easy to criticize the foolishness of this decision, an honest evaluation of ourselves will likely reveal similar struggles. Thus far the Lord has been with us, but now it's time to use my own wisdom to solve the problems! But this is not the answer. When the going gets tough, the wise fall to their knees and cry out for out-of-this-world wisdom.
A Divine Relationship
Third, wisdom is not the means to an end, but the fruit of an important relationship (Ecclesiastes 2:12-18). True wisdom requires us to know God truly. And the only way to do that is to know the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Ultimately, Wisdom is not a “what” but a “who.”
God sent His Son Jesus into the world. Jesus didn’t only accomplish salvation. He lived a life “under the sun.” He felt the pains of hunger, he was burdened by the immensity of the task at hand, to the point of sweating blood. Yet, He was victorious. He finished His mission (John 19:28-30). He now intercedes as a High Priest who can sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15-16).
His ascending to the right hand of the Father was not Him abandoning us to our own devices. He sent His Helper, the Holy Spirit to set us apart, to bear fruit in our lives, and to take what belongs to Jesus and declare it to us! (John 16:15). True wisdom will not be cultivated by experience, nor by reading a great many books. It will be cultivated by the inward working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who have been united to God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3-14). Altogether, according to the wisdom of the God (big picture), heavenly wisdom will be given (external) to those who are united to Jesus Christ (relationship).
It needs to be said that wisdom that comes from Christ isn’t guaranteed to be an instant remedy against fear and doubt. But it is a framework by which we can see that God has purposed even our insecurities for His glory and our good. My doubt must lead to dependence. My fear must lead me to examine His faithfulness. My questions must lead me to the One who has answers! Being face down on the ground in fear means that the next best move is to look up. God is cultivating dependence.
It turns out that other countries don’t need me in the same way that I don’t need me. That’s the whole point. Everyone needs the wisdom that comes with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We all are called to set down our fears, turn from sin, and look to Jesus. Every day is daunting. Our hope is in the beauty of God’s power. We know the secret of facing “any and every circumstance…plenty and hunger, abundance and need,” that it is Christ Jesus who strengthens us during daunting days (Philippians 4:13). It is because of Him that we march forward, not in fear, but in the spirit of power, love, and self control (2 Timothy 1:7).
Undoubtedly, there are daunting days ahead for all of us. Yet there is good news–for those who call upon the name of the Lord, the end truly is better than the beginning.