“The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way” (8:5).  The author of Ecclesiastes reminds us in his melancholy style that we “cannot find out” (8:17) everything we want to know; some things are too big for us.  However, there is a “time and a way for everything,” despite the trouble we all face (8:6).  The wise person doesn’t try to control life, but instead is sensitive to times and seasons in order to make good decisions.  

“But all this I laid to heart … how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God” (9:1).  We don’t have to fight for control; we are in God’s hands.