“I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Eccles. 8:15
Heavenly Father, thank you… thank you for being honest about what we are to expect life to “feel” like between the resurrection and return of Jesus. Life “under the sun” is shorthand for, until the Day of “all things new,” everything and everyone carries beauty and brokenness. “Toil,” thorns, and weeds remains until Jesus returns.
And yet—hallelujah, you intend joy and enjoyment to be our traveling buddies all the way into the new heaven and new earth—through “many dangers, toils, and snares.” You’re always gifting, blessing, loving us. Little Abba-gifts we didn’t see coming. Unexpected “grace-bombs” dropped on us at just the right time.
Oasis-conversations with a friend, snort-producing laughter through our kids and grandkids, daffodils blooming out of season, the “tightline” a hungry trout creates, watercolor paints drying prettier than we expected, an old song reminding us of a sweet memory, reconnecting after a “tiff,” taste buds break-dancing in our mouths as we bite into our favorite whatever… Father, truly, you are the God from whom all blessings flow—not just ooze.
Life “under the sun” is way more than “doable” and “endurable.” because of the life you’ve given us in your Son, Jesus. So Very Amen.