TPC Connections

Sermon Notes

“Life is Uncertain, But God Is Not”
8/30/26

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant, or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”

Luke 13:1-5 “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
_______________

I want to look today at something a lot of Christians stumble over–that is, events and trials they don’t understand.

We struggle with why God allows pain, setbacks, disappointments, and unexpected crisis.

Now, in our quote from Ecclesiastes, wise old Solomon is giving us a fact of life–time and chance happen to us all.

For the record, I don’t like the word ‘chance’ here, because in today’s English it means luck, fate, a whim, or a random happening takes place with no cause or purpose.

Like we say, “He met his long lost brother by chance.”

Or, “just by chance he was in the right place at the right time.”

I don’t believe in LUCK or FATE.
I believe in a sovereign God who oversees his universe:

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”–Proverbs 19:21

So our verse out of Ecclesiastes is better understood as, “…time and unexpected events happen to everyone.”

The bible teaches that life is inherently uncertain.

As Solomon put it:

the swift do not always win the race,
the strong do not always prevail in battle,
and the wise do not always gain wealth or favor.

The fact is that:

Life is unpredictable,
death is inevitable,
and human effort alone cannot guarantee outcomes.

The good news is—Life is uncertain, but God is not!

We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow!
______________

So, picking up in our passage from Luke, here’s the context:

While Jesus was out in public ministering, someone asked him about a tragic event—Pilate had slaughtered a group of Galileans (Gentiles) that were offering a sacrifice to God in the Temple.

Those that brought Jesus the report wanted to know if he knew about it.

As always, Jesus read their mail–they were wondering if those Galileans had been worse sinners than others, and that is why this happened to them.

Jesus said, No!–And commanded the one asking the question to repent, or he would likewise perish!

Then Jesus himself mentioned another tragedy–a large tower had collapsed, falling on 18 men and killing them.

Again, Jesus asked, “Do you think those 18 men were worst sinners than all the other people in Jerusalem?”

The answer was, NO! And again he added, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Not necessarily in the same way, but their day would come to meet God).

So our verse from Ecclesiastes is giving us a fact of life–time and unexpected events happen to everyone.
_____________

Now, notice with me that Jesus didn’t attempt to explain the ‘why’ of it all!

—He didn’t try to make sense of the tragedies,
—or condemn Pilate like the Galileans probably wanted him to,
—or launch into a discourse on building safety!

His one and only focus was, “Be ready…always be ready for any unforeseen event, all the way up to your death.”

In the OT, we see that God often doesn’t explain the ‘why’ of a storm or great trial.

For instance, following Job’s healing and restoration, not one verse can be found where God explains the ‘why’ of his suffering.

He only focuses on deepening Job’s understanding of who He was–of His great power displayed in the creation of all things!

In the NT, when the disciples encountered the fierce storm at sea, after Jesus calmed the waves and silenced the wind, he did not explain to them:

—Why God allowed the storm,
—Why he had told them to launch out, knowing it would come,
—Why he had decided to sleep rather than stopping it sooner…
The only thing he said was, “Where is your faith?”

—His focus was on the condition of their inner soul, not the storm itself!
______________

We read that Jesus wrapped up his matchless Sermon on the Mount with the words,

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the floods rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the floods rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

While storms are shown to be a part of life—Jesus doesn’t explain:

why they come,
why God allows them,
the unfairness of them,
or why they sometimes last longer than expected

He focuses on one thing–BE READY, BE PREPARED, BUILD YOUR LIFE ON THE ROCK OF MY TEACHING before the storms ever arrive!
______________

So here’s a few takeaways:

I. Things will happen that you and I don’t understand

It may be a good thing, or it may be a hard, unforeseen trial.

A fantastic door can swing open—a great unanticipated blessing can arrive in a totally unexpected way.

Or, a heartbreaking, difficult, and trying event can come out of nowhere.

The bible is clear–No one knows what tomorrow brings, and sometimes it brings things we don’t understand! But,

—Trust doesn’t require understanding everything, it requires trusting the one who does!

We know Who holds tomorrow, but we don’t know what tomorrow holds! It’s uncertain:

Prov 27:1 “Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.”

James 4:13-15 “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ 14 You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow!…15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

This is why Proverbs tells us, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.”—3:5-6

A second takeaway is:

II. God’s primary focus is your spiritual growth and health, not the storm!

Why is that important? Because:

Prov 18:14 “A healthy spirit conquers adversity, but what can you do when the spirit is crushed?”

We are only as strong as is our inner man!

Listen to what it says about John the Baptist and Jesus’s growing up years:

Luke 1:80 “John grew up and became strong in spirit.”

Luke 2:40 “And the Child (Jesus) grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

Both Jesus and John grew up to be mighty in their inner man, in their spirit, in their faith, in their walk with God.
Paul prayed for the church, “..that he (God) would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man,”–Eph.3:16

So ask yourself:

Am I building myself up by a daily time in the Word and prayer?
Am I endeavoring to obey God in my lifestyle?
Am I hanging with people that strengthen and affirm my faith?
Am I keeping a clean slate with the Lord?

We succeed or fall,
stand or collapse,
endure or quit based on the strength of our inner man!
_____________

III. Be ready for anything by being right with God

One of Jesus’s most often repeated phrases was–BE READY.

Jesus said, “Be ready, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”–Matt 25:13

–There are those who tell themselves, “I’m just not ready to come to Jesus right now. I’ll do it later at a more convenient time.”

But chances are that time won’t come, for “time and unexpected events come to us all.”

Do you know how many people die every day who thought they had many years left?

Then an accident strikes,
or a disease,
or an act of violence against them…
something totally unexpected and unforeseen takes place,
and just like that they face their Maker!
_______________
• Things will happen we may not understand–but God does.
• God’s focus is on my spiritual health, not the storm.
• Be ready for anything by being right with God!