In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is having a grey Monday of his own.

As he writes, we can hear his frustration at the brevity of life and the short-lived nature of human achievement.  Poor Solomon.  He had tried it all, owned it all and accomplished it all and it hadn’t really satisfied.  Like a grumpy teenager, he says he hated life and hated all the hard work he had done (Ecclesiastes 2.17,18).  You can just hear him slamming his bedroom door in a huff.

And then in chapter 3, his mood lifts a little.

In verses 1 and also verse 17, Solomon writes that there is a time, season or appointed time for every activity and every purpose on earth.  When you look at the meaning of those words/phrases in a Hebrew Lexicon, they sound very familiar.  They sound like Kairos.  They are God-given, God-appointed moments.

And in verse 11, Solomon connects God’s timing, His heavenly opportunities with purpose.

‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds, a divinely implanted sense of purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy.’  Ecclesiastes 3.11a Amplified Bible.

I love the Bible.  I love how truths weave themselves through the Old and New Testaments, as unchanging as the God who breathed them.

Solomon had discovered that the only way to find satisfaction and contentment in life is to live for God’s purposes.  

And we can do that every day, right smack in the middle of ordinary life, by seeing and responding to Holy Spirit-breathed opportunities.

Ephesians 5 and Ecclesiastes 3 show us the wise, fulfilling way to live.  They give us the antidote for restlessness and dissatisfaction in these dark times.  Just do your job, whatever it is.  Serve your family and church.  Enjoy your friends and good food and sunsets and music but make it all about God.  Turn all enjoyment into worship.  Give Him your everyday, ordinary earthly existence and ask Him to make it count for His purposes on earth.  In the  middle of your waking up and your washing up, expect God to show up.

Look for every heavenly moment that comes along and grab it.  Love people and share Jesus.  Forgive and forget.  Take risks for the Kingdom.  Believe His promises.  Pray without ceasing.  Love God with everything you are.

There is beauty in everything God is doing in your life today.  Ask Him for the eyes to see it.  There is purpose hidden in the ordinary.   Ask Him for the faith to believe that.  And there are eternal opportunities from His hand.  Ask God for the supernatural wisdom to redeem every single one.