Just a Matter of Time?

King Solomon is thought to be the wealthiest and wisest man to ever live.  A reading of his work in the Bible entitled Ecclesiastes might also earn him the distinction of being the most fatalistic and cynical man who ever lived.  Lest we come down too hard on ol' Sol we must realize that his negative perspective on life is written from the vantage point 'under the sun'.  His assertion that life with all its trappings is 'meaningless' is an assessment of life lived on this earth apart from God.  This is in contrast to life lived on this earth in an appropriate relationship with God (see Eccl 12:13 for his 'conclusion of the matter').

One of Solomon's observations caught my attention this past week around the time of the violence and carnage at the Aurora, Colorado theater.  Solomon wrote, ". . .no man knows when his hour will come. . .men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them." (Eccl 9:12, NIV).  What I hear him saying is that it is just a matter of time for everyone living 'under the sun' before something bad happens and there is no distinction made for the godly versus the ungodly.

Jesus seemed to agree with Solomon at least in principle when he said to his followers "In this world you will have trouble." (John 16:33).  Trouble and evil can and do come upon anyone at anytime.  So what is the difference between Solomon's perspective and that of Jesus?

Solomon devotes considerable ink in Ecclesiastes 9 to urging his readers to live as well as possible.  Why?  Because eventually, your time will come to be 'trapped by evil unexpectedly'.  That's just the way life is 'under the sun'!  Jesus, on the other hand, says, ". . .you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).  Solomon has us focus on what happens to us.  Jesus urges us to think about how we react to what happens.

Consider a real life example from Aurora.  Pierce O'Farrill was in that theater and was shot three times (Google his name and read his story).  During a media interview he said, "I want to see him [the shooter] sometime. The first thing I want to say to him is 'I forgive you,' and the next is, 'Can I pray for you?'" (source, Yahoo News)
 Jesus has overcome the world.  It seems that Pierce has too.  Will we?  It's just a matter of time!