Grey Stone Church

This Sunday, we'd love to welcome you to Grey Stone. Whether you're looking for a church home, reconnecting with faith, or simply wanting to experience community, there's a place for you here.

Join us at 8:45 AM or 11:15 AM. Both services share the same message with a different feel, and Grey Stone Kids Universe is available during both services for your children.

Welcome to our 11:15 Modern Worship Service. If you're in the area, feel free to worship with us on campus at 2601 Hillsborough Road, Durham NC 27705.

Message Notes 7.26

Chasing the Wind Pastor Clay
Life Questions;
If God is good why is there so much evil?
If God is loving why is there so much suffering?
Solomon also asked these questions.
The wicked often seem to prosper.
Why? The question that never goes away.

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 8

1. Justice delayed is not justice denied.
Ecc 8:10-11;13
Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.
Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.
V. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

-God is a God of Justice and one day ( maybe not immediately) but wrongs will be made right.

2. Life doesn’t always reward the right people.
Ecc.8.14
There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

See Ephesians 6:12 about the spiritual world that we don’t see.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

That brings us to this question:
What do you do when life doesn’t make sense?

Two ideas:
A. Don’t let what you can’t explain rob you of what you can enjoy.

Ecc 8:15
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

-Scan your life and look for what is good.
-You can’t control your circumstances but you can control how you respond to your circumstances.
-See David’s story in 2 Sam 12 after losing a child.

B. Don’t let what you don’t know keep you from trusting the God you do know.

Ecc.8:16-17
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.

Our faith is not in a system it is in a Person. Jesus Christ.

We're here every Sunday 8:45 & 11:15 AM!

Your life is shaped by the decisions you make, and wise decisions don't happen by accident. Scripture reminds us that wisdom isn't a shortcut or a simple formula. It's a lifelong path of walking with God, growing in character, and learning to honor Him in every choice.

As you follow His direction day by day, you'll discover that true wisdom is found in living a life that pleases God, not just reaching the results you want.