Words of Wisdom

"Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?  In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.  I have seen everything in my days of vanity:  There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness."
-Ecclesiastes 7:13-15


I have to admit, I'm not a big studier when it comes to the Old Testament.  Oh I read it, and there are many things to learn from the Old Testament.  But I am so fascinated by Jesus' life and the New Testament, that it is what I usually dig into.  Recently, however, my church had a ladies' bible study on the book of Ecclesiastes.  I was not able to go every time, so long after the study is over at church I am still reading Ecclesiastes.  And, as usual, God is speaking specifically to me through this book. 

Recently, I've been in a hard place.  You can usually tell by looking at my blog posts.  If I am not blogging at least once a month, you can bet I'm struggling with something.  And the "somethings" have been rolling in like the waves at the beach.  One after another....crash, rest, crash, crash, rest.  Just about when you think it's done, another wave crashes in front of me.  Sound familiar?

Sometimes, in the midst of lots of  'stuff '......difficult relationships, illness, etc..........sometimes, I just don't get it.  I mean, why so much?  Why me? Why us? Why them?  Even when you know the answer with your head, your heart still cries out ...WHY?

So, back to Ecclesiastes. The general agreement is that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes.  Solomon was David's son with Bathsheba, actually his second son with her.  The first son they had was lost shortly after birth. 2 Samuel tells us the Lord caused the child to become sick in what seems to be punishment for David's actions with Bathsheba's husband Uriah. David and Bathsheba had other children, and one was Solomon.  In 2 Chronicles, after Solomon was made King, God asked him what he would like to have.  Solomon asked for wisdom.  God granted him wisdom, along with great wealth, possessions and honor (2 Chronicles 1:8-12).

Much is said about Solomon's wisdom.  Why , he even settled the argument over who was the mother of the child in 1 Kings 3.  There were times, however, when Solomon's wisdom seems in question.  Scripture tells us he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  Holy night....doesn't sound too wise to me.  These wives did exactly what God had said they would do....they led Solomon away from his devotion to the one True God.  Solomon even built altars and temples for his wives' other gods.  Big mistake.  Because of his loss of loyalty to God, his kingdom was eventually torn from his family.  Scholars believe Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes toward the end of his life.  In this book he's showing us how  meaningless life can be when that life is spent apart from God.  He was finally "getting it".

I have searched the Bible for specific scripture about events passing through God's hands before they come to us.  There are, of course, many scriptures speaking of the sovereignty of God.  Romans 8:28 is a standard verse we all go to during trials:

               "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

This verse tells us that even when we go through those very difficult places, God will make something good for us through those cicumstances.  Looking back, when some time has passed after an event that caused us pain, we can often see the good that has come from it.  We sometimes even understand why we had to go through that particular heartbreak, and that the wisdom we received from it was needed and priceless.

It's hard, though, to realize that God, being sovereign, does have control over what happens.  When saying events pass through his hands, what we are saying is that he's approving or giving permission for things to happen.  The story of Job comes to mind, where God gave verbal permission to Satan to let all that stuff happen to Job.  And the verse in Ecclesiastes points out that God appoints both the good and the bad.

Sometimes we get all that mixed up in our heads....if God is good, then why in the world is he ALLOWING this to happen....the cancer of a friend, the child born with disabilities, the heartbreak of broken families?  Of all other things, this is probably the one excuse of agnostics or athesists.  They say they can't believe in a God who would be cruel enough to allow such suffering.

But we know better.  We know, through experience, that God is good.  That His ways are perfect, even when we don't understand them.  My scientific knowledge is quite limited.  I don't have a clue how people figured out how to send written communication through the air so that a friend can receive it in Hawaii seconds later.  I don't understand that at all.  It's crazy.  We can apply that to God's sovereignty as well.  Just because I don't understand it does not mean that it's not true and good.  It just means I'm not capable of understanding it right now.  

We have to trust.  It's where the rubber meets the road.  We have to have the WISDOM to trust God even when we don't have the UNDERSTANDING or KNOWLEDGE to call it good.  There are many verses in the Bible to get us through these times were we don't understand.  Scriptures like:

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." 
-2 Corinthians 4:8-9

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."  
-Proverbs 3:5-6

"And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."
1 Peter 5:10

This is the hard part of following Jesus.  If I truly believe scripture, and know Him as I claim to, then I have to trust Him.  I have to live through this REALLY HARD stuff. I have to keep my focus on Him, and on His Word. That's wisdom..........and it is the only thing that works.

"Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her and she will watch over you."
-Proverbs 4:6






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