“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath made the one over against the other, to the end that man should nothing after him.”
As we have seen in earlier articles, Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon, is unpredictable. Solomon was writing as a world-weary fellow who had everything that his heart desired and he found it rather boring and empty. The idea was that the full meaning of life is found in fearing God, or as we would say from the New Testament perspective, reverence and trust in God. In this verse he reminds us that good and bad will happen, and that we will have uncertainty about the future. His first advice was to be joyful when things are going good. This seems like unnecessary advice, but is it really? Sometimes we can’t enjoy the good things because we are worried about a lot of other things. Like Martha, we are sometimes “careful and troubled about many things.” (See Luke 10:38-42) Or like the seed in the parable of the sower that fell among the thorns, we become choked up by the cares of this life that we are so negative that we can’t really rejoice over the things that are good. We need to adopt the verse from Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It could be that one might be so depressed that they can’t recognize a good, and prosperous, time when he is in the midst of it. His second advice was then we face days of adversity that we should consider that God is part of both good and bad days. This could mean several things. One is that when we face adverse times we need to consider that they are inevitable, and that we might consider what God is trying to teach us. When Paul was enduring his “thorn in the flesh” he went to God in prayer and was told that he would keep his “thorn in the flesh,” and that Christ’s grace would be sufficient to see him through it. Considering this answer, Paul saw that through his weakness he could discover God’s strength. In other words, he saw his utter dependence on Jesus. A second thing is that we need to consider is that we are not the only ones who have gone through times of adversity, and that we are not too good to have bad days. Sometimes they might be a reminder from God that we need to make some changes in our lives. Another thing that I have discovered is that the adverse times will end. One of my favorite sayings when I am going through adverse times is to say, “this too shall pass,” and it always does. Some adverse things last longer than others, but they, too, will eventually end. Think about what this verse can mean in your life. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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