Unfinished Sentence

13 Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

I can make a lot out of one bad afternoon. By dinner, something that happened at two o’clock can have an explanation, a trajectory, and an ending. Most of it exists only in my head.

I think that’s why the last line of verse 14 bothers me. The Teacher tells me to consider what God is doing, even though I cannot know what comes next. It’s an unfinished sentence. It leaves room for things beyond my control, but I am always tempted to finish it myself and call it discernment.

The hard thing before me is real, but it does not have the authority to explain the rest of my life.

I can leave the sentence unfinished and trust the God who is already there.

Father, I keep trying to finish sentences You haven’t ended yet so I don’t have to carry the uncertainty. Help me sit with the open ends today, without forcing answers that aren't mine to give, and just rest in knowing You are already in whatever comes next.