Accept Success and Failure as a Part of Life (Eccl. 9:11-12)

First, we should not fool ourselves into thinking either that our success is due to our own merits or that our failure is due to our own shortcomings. “I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all” (Eccl. 9:11). Success or failure may be due to dumb luck. This is not to say that hard work and ingenuity aren’t important. They prepare us to make the most of the chances of life, and they may create opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Yet one who succeeds at work may be no more deserving than another who fails. For example, Microsoft had a crack at success largely because of IBM’s offhand decision to use the MS-DOS operating system for a backwater project called the personal computer. Bill Gates later reflected, “Our timing in setting up the first software company aimed at personal computers was essential to our success. The timing wasn't entirely luck, but without great luck it couldn't have happened.” Asked why he had started a software company just at the time IBM was trying its luck with a personal computer, he replied, “I was born at the right place and time.”^*

There is No Way to Know What Comes Afterwards (Eccl 9:1-11:6), Theology of Work Project, Copyright © 2014 Theology of Work Project, Inc. Also find this article in Theology of Work Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Joshua through Song of Songs. For additional resources, please see The Theology of Work Project Series.