The sage writer of Ecclesiastes conducted an extensive study of life. He wanted to understand its meaning. Do good things always happen to good people, and bad things always happen to bad people? The answer he came to was “no.” Time and chance happen to everyone.
Over the course of our life, we will inevitably experience good fortune, where it seems that life is shining brightly upon us. We will win our competition or be given an award or a promotion or recognition. We may even experience a season in our life where things seem to keep going our way. But, as time goes on, we will also inevitably experience hardship and disappointment. Such experiences are interwoven with life.
Life should not catch us by surprise! It should be clear what we will expect to encounter throughout our life: both joys and sorrows. The difference will be in how we handle time and chance, as we invariably experience them.