As many of you know life can be really good and life can be really difficult. However, Solomon offers us some wise counsel to live by in Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 and he said, “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten. what He has made crooked?When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”
Wisdom, in this case, is to be resigned to it. We must think this reality through and accept what is impossible for us to change. All too often, though, we allow life’s big or small difficulties to depress us and dominate our lives to such an extent that we do virtually nothing positive about the things we can change or cannot change. That is when Satan wins because, having put ourselves into a weakened attitude, we more readily cave to his devices.
Read verse 14 again. This verse contains further wisdom to defend against those difficult times when it seems that nothing can be changed. Solomon essentially counsels us to learn to “roll with the punches.” We must make careful efforts to make the best of the situation, understanding that God has seemingly withdrawn Himself for our good. God is love; He is neither forgetful nor a harsh taskmaster. We have a hard time seeing that the level of difficulty we are experiencing is good for our growth. He is not doing it to smother us but to benefit us in the end.
Family and friends let me encourage by saying God, from His sovereign height, has determined to keep us somewhat off-balance for His purposes. God has commanded that we must live by faith. So trying to figure out the precise reasons for every situation is not only often impossible, but also a huge waste of time, effort, and energy. This counsel may not satisfy some people because of its simplicity, but it is right: all we have to do is trust Him and keep pressing towards the mark of the upward prize in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12-14).
4GIVEN 