I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. (Eccl 3:14)
Ever notice that community plans, activities, organizations, work projects seldom go as we intend? You take a group of imperfect people, even with good intentions, and you get an imperfect group. Personality clashes, missed attendance, external influences, suboptimal gifting – all these factors can combine to prevent our best efforts from achieving their intended purpose. Early success fizzles out, leaving us to wonder whether we have made any real progress at all.
Ever wonder where God is when our best efforts fall short of achieving his work? Doesn’t he want us to succeed? Why can’t he just take our humble efforts, cover for our failings, shortfalls, even sins, and let us succeed anyway? Ecclesiastes gives us a hint: God displays the perfection and permanence of his work in order that we will fear him. He intends that his work contrast with our flawed efforts. You might even say of human effort, “It’s not supposed to work!”
Dr. Larry Crabb, in his Institute of Biblical Counseling seminars, used to say, “What happens to us is not nearly as important as the sentences we say to ourselves about what happens to us.” When we encounter disappointments in community, may we always say:
Father, thank you that the failure of human efforts showcases the completeness and permanence of yours. We succeed only in you.