This evening, I got back into it. I was at a rough spot mentally and when you experience something that you struggle with like that you will do whatever it takes to find wisdom in some Godly material.
God works in some pretty awesome ways and he put some wisdom right on the pages for me.
When King Solomon was writing Ecclesiastes he wrote that Wisdom provides our lives with divine perspective." We are first invited to "consider the work of God," then we are given several occasions when that will provide us that perspective we need.
- "For who is able to straighten what He [God] has bent?"
The Lord our God is ultimately in control. Theologians call this divine sovereignty. Ultimately, it has become a point of argumentation rather than our personal ally. God is in charge, meaning if He has "straightened" something, it's wasted effort to try to bend it. This divine perspective is designed to replace resistance with relief.
Next, is what I am super excited to encourage you with.
- "In the day of prosperity be happy!"
Times are good? Great! Or, in today's vernacular, "Enjoy!" There is no reasons whatsoever to allow guilt to rob you of the joy that should accompany prosperous times. Divine perspective frees us to be happy.
- "But in the day of adversity consider-God has made the one as well as the other."
Again, this divine perspective wisdom brings reminds me that the Lord God is just as involved and caring during adversity as during prosperity. The Hebrew term translated "consider" suggests the idea "to examine for the purpose of evaluating." In the hard times-when the bottom drops out, enduring days of financial reversal, or severe domestic conflicts-wisdom allows us to examine, to evaluate with incredible objectivity.
In the days of prosperity be happy,
But in the day of adversity consider-
God has made the one as well as the other.
What an incredible perspective that is. God has made each and every day as good at the other. So regardless if you had the best day ever and it seemed like everything went your way or if you had a terrible day where things didn't go your way at all, each day was created by God as well as the other. Just having that perspective in your mind can change everything. Every single day that we are alive is a blessing and I think that sometimes our days are based on if it was a good day or a bad day. Sure, some days seem terrible, but someone out there always has it worse than you. Some times you'll have the best day ever and I am sure that there are people out there who had a better day than you. Every single day is a gift of God and He created them as well as the other. Life is good.
God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. He won't reveal the future, which is why the next phrase reads, "So that man may not discover anything that will be after him."
God's ultimate design is nothing short of perfect. He's got a plan, but without operating on the basis of His wisdom, we'll panic and run or we'll stubbornly resit His way.
There are two final concluding thoughts:
Regarding decisions - we dare not make a major decision without asking for the wisdom of God. Since wisdom is His speciality, His unique gift for us, it's imperative that we seek it prior to every major decisions.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)
Regarding vision - we cannot see the whole picture without drawing upon the wisdom of God.
I want to close with this.
"We have not even begun to live if we lack the wisdom God wants to give to us. That wisdom is ours, simply for the asking, and it brings us into a whole new and exciting world!
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