Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)
The message of this verse is that if we are waiting for perfect conditions to begin something we will never begin. There is never a perfect time to step out in faith.
The very nature of a trust relationship with God and stepping out in faith are not dependent upon the conditions or our circumstances.
Ecclesiastes 11 is a powerful chapter. While it acknowledges the uncertainties of life it introduces practical steps of faith that a believer can take to insure success and enjoyment in life.
Here is the setting for this chapter. The writer, who many conjecture was Solomon, is giving advice to old and young alike about how to approach the first day of the rest of our lives. “Light is sweet, how pleasant to see a new day dawning.” (vs. 7) Then he continues “When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life…” (vs. 8) And . . . “Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it…” (vs. 9)
In simple terms the writer is saying to old and young alike, “carpe diem” – seize the day; be sure to rejoice in this wonderful gift and set your heart to making the most of it. These three verses give us the context for the entire chapter. They shed important light on verse four which is actually the pivotal verse.
This verse says in effect, it is too easy to let procrastination and lame excuses keep us from pursuing the things in life that are most important. Don’t let that happen!
There are not enough crutches in the world to support all the lame excuses we come up with, so let’s get healed of our excuses.
All of us have things God has put in our hearts to do for him that we have delayed in doing. All of us have dreams that God has given us that we have put aside for one reason or another. Maybe it’s fear of failure. Or maybe it’s the tyranny of the urgent; and we are not making time in our busy schedules for the really important things we should be doing. Or maybe we are just lazy.
Regardless, you and I are younger today than we will ever be again! We can redeem the time and make the most of every opportunity God is giving us to make our lives count for him.
Conditions may never be perfect; but each new day presents us with another opportunity to step out in faith and plant that seed we’ve been holding so long.
Isn’t it time you plant your seed?