“Just as you know not how the breath of life fashions the human frame in the mother’s womb, so you know not the work of God which he is accomplishing in the universe.” Ecclesiastes 11:5 NABRE
I have gotten to a point in my life where when I am surprised, I often pause and think about God’s amazingness. When certain connections get woven together, stories intersecting at just the right time. Or when certain doors close that need to close in order to make you available to walk through another that opened soon after. Or even tragedy, when you realize you might not have met the person you married had it not been for some hard things you both experienced.
God is working beyond our comprehension—in little ways and in big ways. Let’s not discount that this verse says He is accomplishing works in the universe. That might feel a bit cheesy to you, but for me it’s not. We often here about people who are delayed somewhere and as a result miss an accident. Or a phone call you normally ignore, you pick up and it’s your child who needs you urgently. Or a breezy thought of a friend which causes you to text them and you find out they need your help.
Things like the 2020 COVID epidemic which shifted our world in many ways—causing us to realize what is most important to us, causing how we work to change and evolve in many ways, and causing us to realize how quickly things can change in an instant. I definitely felt it was an exercise in control (or lack of) for every one of us. We were dealing with unknowns, many different opinions about how things were being managed, and illness and death.
As strange a time as it was, our family created some incredible memories with each other. It felt like a novelty, having so much time together with nothing else or no one else distracting us. I felt God was reminding us how we take for granted how the world can run our time—play all the sports, do all the arts, work more-earn more, go, go, go. Until suddenly, we weren’t able to go anywhere anymore.
God does it too with eclipses and exciting natural events which capture our attention and cause us to hit pause on life for a moment, to relish in the wonder of the solar system or volcanoes or sunsets. He does this for us—sometimes to teach us things, sometimes to give us a gift, sometimes to help us, and sometimes to save us from things we could not even imagine.
He works through centuries and generations, across countries and planets, within our hearts and beyond our comprehension.
We are lucky enough to be co-creators with Him. As He tirelessly works, He makes it so we have opportunities to engage in His works, to be a part of all He is weaving together to bring us to eternity. As you read this, He is working on what or who? On everything, on everyone—the entire universe is a work in His hands.
He is accomplishing. Everything He is working is towards His perfect picture of all of us united with Him in heaven. When your heart softens towards Him because of a coral pink sunset, He is accomplishing something in you. When your tears fall and you are having a hard time finding the words, He is accomplishing something in you. When you feel weak, He is accomplishing something in you. When you feel courage, He is accomplishing something in you.
He uses everything: you, me, nature, words, tragedy, joy, laughter, crying. We know this from another verse that I didn’t lead with: “We know all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NABRE
Rest in His promise: You are part of His plan. We already know He chose and appointed us. Now it’s time to rest in that He will accomplish His works through and in us.
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