11 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it [a]after many days. 2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. 3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it [b]lies. 4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 Just as you do not know [c]the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the [d]pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not [e]be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether [f]morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. 8 Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.
9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the [g]impulses of your heart and the [h]desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. 10 So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away [i]pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.
In this chapter, Solomon has more great advice, underpinned by an important principle. The first one seems a little weird though. Cast your bread on the water, so you can find it later? I think we can all agree that bread isn’t going to last long in a lake. I’m not sure, but I wonder if Solomon is speaking of fishing. That is, feed the fish, fatten them up, and after a while you’ll have a great food source.
The example is bigger than that, which is reinforced by the following verses and also v. 6 where Solomon encourages one to sow lots of seed so that you’ll have a good harvest. If we hoard our bread, or our grain, because we might just run out, then we will certainly run out. But if we sow it, the harvest will come (fish or more grain)–barring some disaster, which leads to v. 2.
Here we are encouraged not to “put all our eggs in one basket”. Instead, we divide it up among several endeavors: feeding the fish, planting different crops, etc. It’s great farming advice, at least I think so, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s also pertinent for investing, or just about any business. If you put your all into one specialty, and it doesn’t pan out, what then? Or maybe it works for a while, and then the market dries up.
I can’t really speak to every career field, or even what is best for farmers in this day, we each need to figure out how this applies to us. The reason all of this is important shines throughout the passage, “for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.” We don’t know if a tree will fall to the south, or to the north. Even experienced lumberjacks don’t know for sure, and take safeguards to make sure the tree falls where they want.
Sometimes, you may not understand the tangents that God brings into your life. Thirteen years ago, I had an itch to solve a problem for my in-laws. And now, that itch has become a full-time job (and more), and God has used it to provide for things I never saw coming. Keep your eyes open to where God is leading. Don’t get stuck in a rut and miss His guiding. Maybe the rut is good, but God could be leading somewhere better. Follow Him, and see what amazing things He can do.