Ecclesiastes 9:11: They Had Their Chance With You

Have you ever had to walk away from someone (or even multiple people) you loved, in order to preserve your own emotional health and sanity? If so, you’re going to love this powerful word of encouragement from Ecclesiastes 9:11–and I believe it is going to minister HEALING to you in major ways.

Here’s my backstory for this word from Ecclesiastes 9:11:

Once upon a time, years ago, I had to walk away from some people who I thought were my friends. They were people I loved dearly–and still love–with ALL my heart. And we had been friends–good friends–at least for appearances’ sake.

But over time, I began to notice something was wrong. I confronted them about it, and it turns out that they were believing a lot of lies about me, and lying to other people, and they were jealous of me for no reason.

Also, a lot of other bad things were happening behind the scenes that I hadn’t known about. I had just been walking on my merry way, believing that we all loved each other with the love of the Lord, until it became obvious that that wasn’t the case.

And since the relationship wouldn’t heal (although I had tried to heal it), after getting wise counsel from many qualified sources, including the multiple layers of people to whom I am accountable in my life and ministry, I ended up having to walk away.

This situation broke my heart:

• It broke my heart to learn that my friends weren’t really my friends at all.
• It broke my heart to learn that none of the things that were happening lined up with God’s Word, even though these friends of mine claimed to be godly people.
• It broke my heart because I felt that our friendship was God-ordained. They had prayed for people like me to enter their lives, and I had prayed for people like them to enter mine; so I truly felt like God had brought us together in the Spirit to walk together in love before Him.
• And it broke my heart to have to walk away, because hope springs eternal.

You always hope for reconciliation and restoration–for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. You hope you can all “be one,” as Jesus prayed for us all to be. But, that just didn’t happen in this case.

I bled over it for a long time.

But as I prayed about these things for an ongoing period of time, the Lord whispered something into my spirit one day. He said:

“Time and chance happen to them all.”

I didn’t know what that meant, so I started researching this. And I found this phrase in Ecclesiastes 9:11, which says:

I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

But time and chance happen to them all (Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV).

I didn’t understand at first what the Lord was saying in this verse, so I started researching the Hebrew words to find out what on earth this verse means, and how it could apply to my situation.

Here’s what I found out:

If you trace the Hebrew words for “time” and “chance” in this verse back to their word-roots, you’ll find out that:

• “Time” indicates a window of time with a limited duration and an end date. As in, “There was a time, but the time ended.”
• “Chance” doesn’t mean “luck” (which is what I always thought it meant!). Instead, it means “chance,” as in, “They had a chance.” 
• In fact, if you trace the Hebrew root words, this “chance” actually means “pagah,” which is also the word for intercession. You could understand this to speak of a chance someone prayed for; a chance they wanted really badly. A chance they had to strike against God in order to get.

And then I realized this is what the Lord is saying in Ecclesiastes 9:11 for you and me today:

One would think that a race would be won by the fastest person in the race (“the swift”). But, that’s not necessarily true. Just like in Aesop’s fable, sometimes it really is the persevering turtle that wins the race, rather than the indulgent and neglectful hare.

Additionally, one would presume that victory in battle would always go to the strongest person around. But also, that’s not necessarily what happens. There could be many reasons why someone who was not the strongest might win a battle in real warfare.

Think of medieval warfare, and this makes perfect sense: perhaps someone takes a castle who is not the strongest or the richest, but who instead has more perseverance, better strategy, stronger metal in their swords, more skilled archers, the favor of God, miracles, better supply line, and so on.

But the race, or the prize, doesn’t automatically go to the people who wanted it really badly.

The prize doesn’t even always go to the people who seem most qualified to receive it. And it doesn’t go to the people whom you think would have earned it with their strength or intercession. 

Nope.

Because here’s the thing:

Time and chance happen to them all.

Everybody has a limited duration of time. They get a window of opportunity. And “You had a chance, but now it’s over” happens to them all.

When I studied this out and understood what Holy Spirit was saying in this verse (Ecclesiastes 9:11), it touched me so deeply. This verse brought so much freedom and instant healing to my heart.

And I sense an emergency, clarion call in the Spirit that our good, good Father wants you also to know today:

You’ve been in some places that were really hard. Maybe you also have been with people whom you love with all your heart, but they didn’t love you back and/or treat you righteously.

But, that situation has had its chance with you–and that chance is over.

Time and chance happen to them all. The people in that situation that was painful for you had their chance with you. Maybe it was even a God-ordained chance. Maybe it was even a chance they prayed for, or that you prayed for. 

But, the sad fact is:

Those people missed out on their opportunity with you. And their time–the duration of their opportunity–is over.

Time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says it right there.

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The people whom you expect to win everything don’t always make good decisions. Just because a person (or people) is better qualified, stronger, or has any other factor going for them that you don’t have does NOT mean they will succeed in anything like you would expect them to succeed.

Time and chance happen to them all. And there are factors other than strength, reputation, and so on that determine things: factors like holiness, humility, purity, perseverance, love-walk (or lack thereof), and submission to God’s Word, among others.

If this word is for you, you need to know:

That person’s chance with you is over. Time and chance happen to them all. And the time is a closed period of time; its end-date has passed. They had their chance with you, and that chance is over. God is moving you on to bigger and better things, and He doesn’t expect you to stay in a toxic relationship or toxic place. God is very protective of you, and their chance with you is over.

Move on, and be free.

Does this word from Ecclesiastes 9:11 address what’s been going on in your life today? Leave a comment below if so!