God chooses grace rather than works. We are what we are in Christ Jesus by His grace. Let no one boast. Whatever we are today is a product of His grace. Everybody cherishes breakthrough; that is why we work hard. Little do we know that the battle is not for the strong and the race is not for the swift. This means, after struggling, after our hard labor, God would still have to mark our work. When we have done everything, we must leave the issue with God. If we succeed, we must give God the praise; if we fail, we must submit to His will.
No man knows by the present signs what the future holds for him. Are you poor now? It is too early to grumble because God sometimes uses foolish things to reveal His purpose in our lives. Are you blessed now? It is too early to jubilate because you will still need God more in blessing. Time and opportunity act on us all. In other words, every man has the grace of time and space to act in only as allotted to him by providence (God). Every man cherishes breakthrough; that is why we all work hard. Little do we know, as the preacher puts it, in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that in the world, fast runners do not always win the race and the brave do not always win the battle. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always rise to high positions. You can never tell when your time is coming. What the Bible is simply saying here, is that the battle is not for the strong, nor the race for the swift. This philosophy seems to work against ‘common sense’, but it is the reality.