Good morning,
One of the wonderful benefits of reading and believing the Bible is that it gives us a lot of help in understanding what God is thinking and doing as we travel through life. We long for life to be a straight road with only a few bumps and a few short detours, but that never seems to work the way we expect. When the wisest King that ever lived in Israel, Solomon, tried this approach, he wrote, I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, "I am determined to be wise." But it didn't work.(Eccl.7:23) I would suggest that the problem we face has two main challenges that we must deal with. First, our sin nature and our Enemy will always do their best to get us to expect what we want and not what God is planning to do. The second issue we face is what Solomon wrote, Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.(v.24) It is impossible for any human person to understand God’s finished plan for all of time as well as know what He is planning for each of us on a day by day basis. As sinful people, we instinctively feel that we have the right to be in control of our lives and the lives of those around us. What we call education is actually our attempt to get enough information and strength to stay in control on the winding road of life that keeps surprising us with the unexpected.
Solomon’s answer do dealing with God’s unpredictable plan for each of our lives is, Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?(Eccl.7:13) Solomon realized that when dealing with what is unexpected, or difficult, or even deadly, we are still dealing with God’s straight road for each of our lives. We do well to remember that not one of us really knows or understands why we are here or what God has planned for us on the other side of time. What God longs for us to do is, Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.(v.14) There is a reason for everything that happens in our lives. Whether we consider something good or bad, it is still a part of God’s eternal perfect plan. Discipline from God is something that sinners like us always find painful, but how else will we ever live lives that are more and more like our Savior Jesus. It is only the Holy Spirit who is living in us and through us that can give us the peace we need to accept what Solomon said next, Remember that nothing is certain in this life.(v.14) The good news for those of us who are genuine members of God’s eternal family is what Isaiah was told to tell us was ahead for our lives as soon as we leave this world behind. In that day the people will proclaim,"This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the LORD, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”(Isa.25:9) Once we get home, our life in time will all make sense. All the little pieces of life that didn’t seem connected will suddenly become a beautiful, joyful, rewarding story that will be worth celebrating for all the rest of eternity. Dear Lord, please help us to accept the way you are doing things now, as well as in eternity.
Ecclesiastes 7:13 Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
Roy Wisner
