Tag: king solomon

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Enjoying the Cycle of Life & Death

krisshetter

First published March 18, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: From meaningless to meaningful series.

I had a dream the other day that I had died.  I didn’t die in the dream; I was already dead.  In the dream, I was aware of my death and now “living” in an idyllic New England-style bay village.  The whole situation seemed a bit quirky and yet normal.  There was the typical mom and pop breakfast and lunch café, an ice cream shop on the corner, and even a small inn with a welcoming lobby bar featuring wine nights.  My death-fellows walked about in full acceptance that this was their final destination.  They were friendly and colorful.  It all was so normal yet I kept saying, “surely this can’t be it?”

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Ecclesiastes 3 might be one of the most well-known chapters in the Bible simply because in 1959 singer-songwriter Pete Seeger wrote the song, “Turn Turn” or “To Everything There Is a Season.” The Byrds made the song famous in the 1960s, drawing its lyrics from Ecclesiastes 3.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain that which is to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Seeger’s motivation was to emphasize the last line in King Solomon’s list of cyclical life – peace.  But Solomon’s goal was to remind us again that the world keeps spinning round and round and at times may seem so meaningless.  He reflected on wickedness and judgment – a judgment that would be sought out at each of our deaths.

Death, my friends, comes to us all.  We may want to dance around that truth with familiar colloquialisms such as, “If I die….”  But the truth of death stares us in the face each year when we reflect on the people we have “lost.”  “Lost” as though we don’t know what happened to them or where they went.  Maybe they’re wandering around in some idyllic New England town.  Maybe they are in a fiery furnace.  Or maybe they are “with the Lord.”  

As a Christian, I know there are two roads to take toward death: 1) the way of the world and sin which leads to terrible judgment and hell or 2) the way of Jesus, leading to the glorious New Eden in which love abounds.  For the non-believer they may have chaos in their mind when they ponder death. If they’re atheists, like my father, they might believe that when we die we just disappear into nothingness. Others might hope for something better — like free ice cream for life, surrounded by Golden Retrievers. Many might imagine a walk up to the “pearly gates,” standing before an angel with a book of “infractions and do-goods” hoping the balance sheet is in their favor. For the atheist or confused, none of what they believe has as solid a foundational truth like the Bible.

For the Christian, we can look at Solomon’s list of “this and that” with comfort.  By trusting in God and His promises, we can seek Him in every circumstance, both the seemingly good and bad.  Each season Solomon describes contains complexity: sorrow may carry blessing, and even joyful seasons may contain loss.

“Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:6-7

The disciples were facing the truth about life.  We will die.  Jesus was the only one to ever know the exact day and hour.  In that death notice, however, Jesus gave them the preview of the blessing to come – the gift of the Holy Spirit. They still grieved mightily, but when the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they remembered His words and were healed.

Part Two of Enjoying the Cycle of Life & Death where we discover there are no “ordinary people.” Click here for part two.

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Enjoying Life With Gladness

krisshetter

First published on April 22, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: From meaningless to meaningful series.

At this point in your life, you’ve probably been asked one or both of these questions:

  1. If you were told you were to die tomorrow, what would you do?
  2. If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do tonight?

They are two different scenarios.  The first sees life moving forward for the rest of the world without you in it.  The second imagines the destruction of everything we know.   For me, however, my answer to both is the same.  I would gather my family and others that I love.  We would spend time in prayer asking God to sustain us through the trial so that we would see His face at our end.  I would want us to gather in laughter, remembering all the wonderful times God has provided us throughout our lives together.  We would eat a scrumptious meal, most likely prepared by my husband, enjoy good wine, and pray some more.

Here’s the thing, we should live knowing that either scenario is possible..  That is, if we truly believe the message of the Bible.  First, we will all die, just as we have seen in earlier chapters of Ecclesiastes.  It’s not if but when.  For every single one of us.  Secondly, if it’s not the rapture coming upon us then we should be honest that the world is now filled with weapons that could easily kill us all.  Does this mean we live every day in fear of these two truths?  No, but truth can and should set us free to live in reality.

“All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.” Ecclesiastes 9:2

That “common destiny” is the evil we call death.  So, what do we do with this truth?  We live each day serving the one true God and live in gladness.

“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.”Ecclesiastes 9:7-8

Gladness is not hedonism.  Gladness is not escapism.  Gladness isn’t folly.  You could easily imagine, in fact movies and books have taken the “if the end were tomorrow what would we do” topic and shown us the possibilities the unrighteous might take.  Some might go on drug, alcohol or sexual benders.  Getting blotto to ease their fears or pain.  The age-old “eat and drink because tomorrow we might die” path toward annihilation.  It’s a twisting of the message found throughout Ecclesiastes.  Other might go on a theft and destruction rampage.  That thinking shines the light on people who live without wisdom or God.

Why shouldn’t we think this way?  I mean your life is about to end, right?  Let’s remember when Moses negotiated with God to save their people.   

“But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.” Exodus 32:11-12

So here you are, you’ve committed every sin possible against man and God the night before you are to die and suddenly a righteous person pleads for mercy on the world’s behalf.  The ungodly will surely find themselves on the wrong side of that historical moment.  Or maybe that person is praying for your healing because you have been personally given that death sentence.  Will God abide or will He see justice done?  

That’s what the “fear of God” is about.  It means recognizing that God is above us and that He will ultimately bring justice.  Do we love God and therefore want to live our lives in service to Him?  Or do we grieve the Holy Spirit daily, hourly even, and turn our backs on Him?

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5-6

Until the day we actually die we still have time.  Time to submit ourselves to the Lord Most High.  Time to reconcile with loved ones.  Time to extend mercy and forgiveness in abundance.  Time to enjoy our lives with gladness.  Because once your time is up, the dead have no such chances.

“Joy is the serious business of heaven.”   C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

Living with gladness means making the most of ordinary moments because ordinary moments are precious. This moment will never come again. Our short lives pass quickly. Will we spend them in bitterness and anger?  In the fog of folly and hedonism?  Or in joyfulness and with endurance?  

I saw a great example of taking everyday moments and making them full of gladness.  Once a month a mom of four young children creates “Fancy Dinner Night.”  The children all dress in their finest clothing.  She makes picture menus of the meal she has planned.  There are candles and cloth napkins and the fancy china.  She plays the role of waitress and hands out the menus as though she is serving clients at a five-star Michelin restaurant.  Even the toddler has a picture menu from which to choose his meal.  She is training them not only to enjoy an everyday moment but how to act with character at mealtimes.  It was so sweet and beautiful!

“Console yourself, dear Battos. Things may be better tomorrow. While there’s life, there’s hope. Only the dead have none.” Greek Poet Theokritos

There is always hope for tomorrow; a tomorrow filled with gladness.  Why? Because we have the life and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He suffered the most gruesome of deaths to take on our sins.  He sacrificed not only His human body but His heavenly one when he came to earth to live among us.  He showed us what the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven will look like – ones who fully rely on God, they forgive and are forgiven, they put others ahead of themselves, they mourn over their sin.  And when He was resurrected, He proved that those Kingdom Citizens will also be raised from the dead and be given yet another new life.  What amazing hope we have for our eternal lives after this short time here on earth.

When we live in gladness and joy, we seek to serve others in His Holy Name.  We love others well in His name.  We take every moment, even in the trials and tribulations, and thank Him for providing for us, for healing us, and being our guiding light.  So why oh, why would we want to miss out on that hope?  Why would we not want to share that hope with those around us who choose daily leaning toward something less?

“It’s not by searching for special things that we find joy, but by making the everyday things special.” Warren Wiersbe

Friends, our time here is truly short so consider well your answers to the first two questions I presented.  Because eternity is forever.  A forever spent in the presence of the glory of God or of the pain of hell.

“So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.” Ecclesiastes 9:1 

King Solomon eventually, in his study of the meaningless life, discovers that we do, in fact, know what awaits us.  If we take the narrow path set before us by Jesus we are greeted with unmeasurable love.  Our knowledge of that truth should give us the endurance to live each day in gladness.  And to spread that truth to so many others.

Are you saving your best china for a special occasion that never seems to come? Take it out. Light the candles. Invite the neighbors you’ve always wanted to know. Make an ordinary evening special.

Our time here is short, but in Christ our hope is eternal. So rejoice in the gifts God has given you. Love generously. Forgive freely. Serve faithfully. And while you have breath, enjoy life with gladness.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” C.S. Lewis

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Enjoying the Right Side of Life

krisshetter

Originally published on April 29, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: From meaningless to meaningful series.

I’ve mentioned in past posts that I wasn’t raised in a Christian home.  My father is, to this day, an atheist and my mom is, well just sort of lost.  In my younger years, I would probably tell you I believed in God but I didn’t really know what that meant.  God was the creator and He was still hanging around, I supposed.  If I had died back then I would’ve had the same judgment as my father, I believe.  Because just like my atheist father, I didn’t have God as the cornerstone of my life.

I hate to say it, but I talk to a lot of folks who seem to be in this same boat.  They might even call themselves “Christian.”  But dig a bit deeper and they don’t believe the basic tenets of the faith.  Such as Jesus being fully man and fully God who died to cover our sins and make us righteous before God.  Or that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.  Without these basic truths to help us navigate through life what’s to keep them from wandering off the path?  To avoid a life of foolhardy behavior and thinking?  To be led by foolish teachers and pastors?

“Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:1-2

Back in the ancient world of King Solomon, the right hand represented the place of honor and power.  The left hand (sorry lefties) represented weakness and even rejection.  In this introduction to chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon shines the light on our propensity to lean a bit too far into our personal temptations and sins.  We give way to the left-hand side of life.  Those sinful “flies in the ointment” create a life that looks a lot like one without knowing or trusting in God.

“Blessed is the man who has the God of Jacob for his Helper; he need not fear either want or pain, or death. The more you can realize this, the happier will you become; and the only means for so doing is to hold frequent communion with God in prayer. Get alone with Jesus, and He will comfort your hearts, and restore your weary souls.” Charles Spurgeon

Not only had I not put God as a cornerstone of my life I put so many other things and people there in His place.  In Solomon’s words I put “fools in a high position” (Ecc 10:6).  And wisdom?  Let’s just say it wasn’t a top priority for me.  

“The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.” Ecclesiastes 10:15

What a sad state to be in, as so many are today.  Lost among well-travelled roads.  Thinking they know the way to enjoying life to the fullest only to find themselves each morning back on the wrong side of a meaningful life.

I’ll make a confession to you.  I started having sex when I was about 16 years old – sad to say that may be a bit old nowadays.  By the time I met my future husband at age 22, I had been with more than 15 different men.  The first few sexual relationships were ones I sometimes, still today, thank God that He didn’t allow me to become pregnant because I was also unprotected.  During those years, something inside me knew what I was doing was wrong, but that didn’t stop me.  I plowed ahead in my left-handed life.

Later, I even realized my behavior was born out of a need to seek love and acceptance.  Instead, I usually received the exact opposite.  Folly, folly, folly.  And more wandering over the same roads.

My cornerstones, or my go-to experts, were like-minded travelers.  Women’s liberation bullhorns, pro-abortionists, people who believed we deserved to do what we please, and others who scoffed at the religious right and their limiting “rules for life.”  I was going to do what I wanted, with whom I wanted, and was going to be happy and successful.  

Until I wasn’t.

As a person searching for a meaningful life, that younger me was bombarded by foolish rulers.  College teachers who were all about living the life that was “true to yourself.”  The people I worked with had no place for God and encouraged debauchery and folly.  Even the pastor of the church, where I spent about 10 years as a new Christian, never talked about sin.

Now, as a Christ-centered Christian, it angers me that there are pastors who fall into these same categories.  Their own lives and their teaching don’t reflect God as their cornerstone.  They are ok with abortion – murdering the innocent.  They are just fine with people having sex outside of marriage.  With living immoral lives as long we know we are “loved” and “don’t judge.”  They’re apparently reading from a different Bible than the one I have.  

They are not leaders of the right-handed side of life.  So when we consider whom or what we’ve made the cornerstone of our lives, we need to ask: Are they leading us toward wisdom, or simply taking us in circles along the same old paths?

Click here for Enjoying the Right Side of Life Part Two as we discover the path straight to love and joy.

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Enjoying A Gifted Life

krisshetter

First published on April 1, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: from meaningless to meaningful series

Ecclesiastes Five Part One

About four years ago a few friends and I gathered together to start a new Bible study group. We selected the book, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be, by Donna Partow. It was a 90-day study on the Proverbs 31 woman. After tackling such topics as meditating on God’s Word, creating healthy, godly habits, and family relationships we were asked to declutter our lives. The scriptures for Day 31 were from Luke 3:11; 6:38

“And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”… (Jesus said) give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

It was the beginning of a journey toward freedom.  Freedom from clutter, freedom from hoarding, and freedom from stuff.  We were to sit in each room of our house and quietly meditate and pray about what the room spoke to us.  Was it chaos?  Was it peaceful?  Was it full of stuff that brought us joy or shame?  

“The key to minimizing clutter and keeping an orderly home is a resolute commitment to give away everything you can. Give, give, give! Give until it hurts.”  Donna Partow, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be

This sentiment is echoed by John Wesley’s sage advice to “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” Why? Because as King Solomon reminds us all in Ecclesiastes 5, you can’t take it with you.

“As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” Ecclesiastes 5:15

And we can’t forget from Ecclesiastes 3, there’s “a time to keep and a time to throw away…” (v 6)

According to Pew Research, in 2013 the average global annual household income was $9,733.  In the United States that number was $51,939.  Poor Americans were actually classified as global middle class.  And only 2% of all Americans could classify as “globally poor.”  The good news in 2019 however, was that the United States, according to the World Giving Index, ranks first in charitable giving.  But who ranked second?  It was Myanmar, considered to be on the lower-middle income scale.  Researchers surmise this stark difference in income to charitable giving is due to the large population of Theravada Buddhists for whom frequent acts of giving are the norm.

So yes, the majority of Americans are wealthy from a global perspective and we give and give. But we also hoard. About 10% of US households are currently renting a storage unit filled with stuff. In 2019, a survey found the average American spent $18,000 per year on non-essential goods. That’s twice the annual income on average globally! One often-repeated but unconfirmed statistic claims the average American home contains 300,000 items.

  That’s a lot of stuff.  And you have to ask, why?

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6: 6-10

And while many of our bank accounts don’t show a lot of money, our homes sure do.  So, when we were asked to sit in each room and evaluate the atmosphere, it brought out a number of uncomfortable feelings.  The stuff that had accumulated was embarrassing and not bringing my family much enjoyment.  It reminded me of when I would visit my husband’s grandmother’s house and think, “When she’s gone who is going to have to go through all this stuff?”  She hoarded all manner of paper goods and supplies.  When my mother-in-law was in her last days, I truly appreciated one of her last requests of me and my eldest daughter – to start cleaning out clothes closets and freezers before she was gone.  She didn’t want her husband to have to deal with it all later.

“There is more than one way to be rich and more than one way to be poor. f we accept His gifts, but complain about them we are guilty of ingratitude. If we hoard His gifts and will not share them with others, we are guilty of indulgence. But if we yield to His will and use what He gives us for His glory, then we can enjoy life and be satisfied.” Warren Wiersbe, Be Satisfied

Our ability to earn an income, and even have disposable income, is a gift from God. We turn so much of what we buy into “needs.” I’m just as guilty. Because even though I did a great job decluttering my home during that study I’ve noticed the stuff has gathered steam again in my house.

What is this need we have, especially those of us in wealthy western countries, to turn to stuff to satisfy?  To find our joy in hoarding money and possessions?  To build up bank accounts for the distant future?  We need to feel secure that the nest egg is the right size – even though the right size never seems big enough.  We want full refrigerators, stuffed closets, and overflowing garages.  Enough never seems quite enough.  We need, we need.  Once while driving through our neighborhood my eldest daughter, who was about 8 years old, commented on an open, three-car garage.  “I’m glad we don’t have two garage doors,” she said.  And I asked, “Why?”  “Because that would mean we would need more junk,” she sagely replied.  Oh, the wisdom of innocence.

“I believe one reason so many Christians in America are apathetic is they don’t really believe they need God. They have replaced Him with their estate planner and retirement fund. I’m not implying we should ignore planning for the future and, in effect, presume on God. But when you cling to your possessions and live in fear of not having them, you ignore the Holy Spirit’s leading and put your confidence in your wealth instead of God.”

John MacArthur

Ouch!  Imagine if you would, before buying anything — and I mean anything – we have a short chat with the Lord.  “Do I truly need this?”  “Will this help me live in the fruit of the Spirit?”  “Am I buying this because I think I deserve it?”  “Is this financial decision made in trusting You?”  I would probably buy less potato chips and therefore be treating my body as a better steward!  I believe this is what it means to pray without ceasing.  We are in constant contact with the Lord even in the grocery store, but especially when it comes to bigger wants and needs. A prayer life rich in listening and trusting God so that we can be good stewards of our blessings and gifts. Asking God to help us truly enjoy the riches He bestows on us — that’s what I want to seek each and every day.

Part Two of our look at Ecclesiastes 5, Enjoying The Gifted Life! Click here for part two.

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Enjoying A Wisdom Filled Life

krisshetter

First published April 15, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: from meaningless to meaningful series

A teenager asked his father if he could go to an unsupervised party where there would surely be drinking.  He denied his request.  “Aw Dad, why not?” he complained.  “I’m in high school now!” Dad replied: “Because some will drink and the party could get out of control.” “But, Dad, those are just very small parts of the party!  “My answer is ‘no,’ and that is my final answer. You are welcome to stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over.  But you will not go to that party.  End of discussion.”

The teenager walked dejectedly into the family room and slumped down on the couch. As he sulked, he was surprised to hear the sounds of his father preparing something in the kitchen. He soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven, and he thought, “Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he’s going to try to make it up to me with some fresh brownies.  Maybe I can soften him up with lots of praise when he brings them out to me and persuade him to let me go to that party after all.”

The teen was not disappointed.  Soon his father appeared with a plate of warm brownies. He took one. Then his father said, “Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you very much.  That is why I’ve made these brownies from scratch with the very best ingredients. The best stone-milled flour.  The best free-range eggs.  The best organic pure cane sugar. Premium vanilla and the finest chocolate.”  The brownies looked mouth-watering.

“There is one ingredient not normally found in brownies. I only added a tiny amount, so small you probably wouldn’t even notice. Go ahead and try one.”

“Dad, what is the mystery ingredient before I eat it?” the teen asked.  Dad answered, “Why?  The portion I added was so small.  Just a teaspoonful.  You won’t even taste it.” The teen said, “Come on, Dad; just tell me what it is.”

“Well, OK, if you insist.  That secret ingredient is organic…dog poop.” The teen instantly dropped his brownie back on the plate and began inspecting his fingers with horror. “DAD!  Why did you do that?  You’ve tempted me by making me smell the brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell me that you added dog poop! I can’t eat these!”

Dad smiled. “Why not? It’s only a tiny amount compared to everything else in the brownies.”

It won’t hurt you.  It’s been cooked right along with the other ingredients and you won’t even taste it. Go ahead and eat it.”  His son replied, “No, never.”

The wise dad continued, “And that is the same reason I won’t allow you to go to that party. You won’t tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality in your life?  We pray that God will not lead us unto temptation. So how can you in good conscience entertain yourself with something that could easily get you into trouble?”

The teenager lowered his head, then looked up at his Dad.  He smiled. He finally understood. He never did go to high school parties where there was drinking.

Ah, the wisdom of a father.  Don’t most parents wish and hope we can provide such clever and wise examples to their children?  And best of all, they listen and obey?  But alas, so much wisdom dispensed, even to us, falls on deaf ears.  We know better and usually think we can do better than the person trying to save us from heartache or hardship.

The Old Testament can be broken into four categories of books. The Pentateuch (the first 5 books), Israel’s history, the prophets, and then wisdom.  Two entire books, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, have as their focus the topic of wisdom.  It must be something God finds very important in the lives of us humans.  Yet, wisdom and the enjoyment of having a life filled with it, seems so elusive to many.

We all have that family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker or acquaintance who causes us to scratch our heads each time they make yet another disastrous decision.  A decision that looks a lot like the same mistake they made last time when they sloughed off good advice.  Or maybe that person is…you.

Much of the wise advice we hear throughout our lives has its roots somewhere in the book of Proverbs, authored mostly by King Solomon.  In Ecclesiastes 7 & 8, he goes on to remind us to seek wisdom but that wisdom, by itself, is not to be the end-goal.  He should know.  Having asked God to grant him the wisest mind, he eventually managed to really mess up his life pursuing all manner of fleshly desires of which his gift of wisdom afforded him by becoming a wealthy king.  He became the poster boy for “do as I say, not as I do.”

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverb 9:10

Had he followed his own wise counsel he might have produced offspring that didn’t want to betray him or destroy the kingdom once they were in power.  It’s a good lesson to learn when we dispense wisdom to our fellow, earthly travellers.  As Jesus once reminded us, remove the log out of your own eye before you comment on the speck of another.

All that aside, it appears that at the end of Solomon’s life he recognized so many of his faults, sins or indiscretions.  The result was his study of life in Ecclesiastes.  And with that we get such wonderful pearls as:

‘For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.” Ecclesiastes 7:12

If there is one thing, after seeking Christ, that we should pursue throughout life, it is wisdom.  It’s not easily gained.  Often, gaining wisdom requires suffering first.  Isn’t that what we so often try to impart to others?  How to avoid pain, suffering, loss by taking our hard-earned advice?

“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Hebrews 12:7-8

Like the son in the brownie story all of us need discipline sometime in our lives.  It’s the first step in wisdom seeking. The person who learns from their mistakes or experiences (or others’) gains one step closer to being wise.  One step closer to living a peaceful, joy-filled life.

“None of us can come to the highest maturity without enduring the summer heat of trials.” Charles Spurgeon

“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” Ecclesiastes 7:4

Solomon isn’t telling us in the above verse to not have a good and happy life.  What he is saying is our seeking joy and happiness at all costs is a shallow goal and not wise.  When our yearning for closeness to God can only be satisfied during joyful times, we miss out on the richness that tough times can bring.  

Life, as we all know, isn’t all rainbows and unicorns.  As he has said throughout Ecclesiastes, life is frequently about toiling and repetitiveness.  Wisdom is rarely sought and found while we are whooping it up at a party.

Wisdom is found before we enter the door and remember the terrible hangover we had that last time.  Or the fight you and your spouse got into because of inappropriate behavior at the neighborhood BBQ.  Or even maybe the DUI your friend got when you drove home together.  When we brush all that aside for a “good time,” we’ve entered into the land of folly.

Wisdom is gained by remembering. Remembering the wise words shared with you.  Remembering the results of poor decisions, either by yourself or someone you know.

Wisdom isn’t just knowledge.  My mother-in-law was a very wise person.  She didn’t go to college, she didn’t have some big shot important job.  She was a mom, a sometimes employee at dress shops and florists.  She was a devoted Christian and a ready-hand at many volunteer events.  She was creative and quick-witted.  And she dispensed wisdom with ease.  Wisdom gained from a dirt poor childhood with an alcoholic dad.  From watching her brother make one bad decision after another ending up on drugs and in jail.  She didn’t need self-help books to know about life, she lived it and remembered it.

“To know is not to be wise. To know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” Charles Spurgeon

Friend, in this first look at wisdom let’s make a good evaluation of our own lives.  Are we enjoying a life of wisdom or are you continuing to make the same bad decisions?  Are you saying “talk to the hand” when someone who has wise words wants to impart them to you?  Do you brush aside past mistakes as Solomon did thinking things will be different this time?  Have you prayed, as King Solomon did, to the Lord asking for wisdom, in each and every aspect of your life?

Wisdom will keep you from the extremes, as Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes verse 7:9 It will preserve you, your good name Ecc 7:1, your family and other relationships.  Seek first to be obedient to God and then ask Him for insight and wisdom.

I want to leave you today with a prayer that many may be familiar with written by theologian  Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), called the Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

Enjoying A Wisdom Filled Life Part Two now available! Click here

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Enjoying The Enough Life

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First published April 8, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: from meaningless to meaningful series

In 2014, researcher and Contentment Foundation founder Daniel Cordaro took a team of researchers to the remote area of the Himalayas in Eastern Bhutan. Their subjects were 200 nomadic families who had never been contacted by outsiders. It was to be the final look into a 5-year, cross-cultural study of how people identify and react to a long list of emotions. Upon showing the villagers dozens of facial and vocal expressions, even having been cut off from the rest of the world, they recognized the vast majority of emotions with accuracy. However, it was one emotion that elicited a different response to the norm. That emotion was contentment. Their guide, Dr. Dorji Wangchuk, stopped for a moment when they reached that word.

“In our culture, this emotion is very special. It is the highest achievement of human well-being, and it is what the greatest enlightened masters have been writing about for thousands of years. It’s hard to translate it exactly, but the closest word is ‘chokkshay’, which is a very deep and spiritual word that means ‘the knowledge of enough.’ It basically means that right here, right now, everything is perfect as it is, regardless of what you are experiencing outside.”

This explanation by Dr. Wangchuk brought chills to Cordaro who goes on to say in his story of this experience, “No matter where I went on planet earth, all of the cultures I interacted with revered contentment as one of the highest states to cultivate in life. Yet in the West, we were obsessing about happiness—and feeling more anxious, depressed, and stressed.”*

While Mr. Cordaro may have decided through his research that “happiness” rather than contentment is a relatively new goal which rears its head mainly in western society, I would argue it’s actually been around for a very long time.  You only need to turn to Ecclesiastes 6, indeed much of Ecclesiastes itself, to see pleasure seeking or happiness sits atop many people’s motivation in life.

“If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he…even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity.  Do not all go to the same place?” Ecclesiastes 6:3 & 6

King Solomon would relate to this prosperous man; it might even be a reflection of the King himself.  A man who amassed riches, property, wives, children, slaves, food, and wine.  Yet was drawn to study the meaningless life.  A life much the opposite of those Himalayan nomads.

A 2016 survey by YouGov asked Americans whether they would rather achieve great things or be happy.  81% said they would rather be happy.  Despite the widespread pursuit of happiness, people struggled to define it or achieve it.**  And I ask you, on a daily basis are you seeking happiness or contentment?  Are you seeking to feel the emotion that pleasure provides or resting in the peace of enjoying “enough?”

“Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”  Ecclesiastes 6:9

The “I need to do and seek out what makes me happy” hasn’t really worked out that well for us humans.  It’s a life led by self-fulfillment and fleeting emotions.  Back a few years when I decided to seek happiness, I went about it working hard at changing myself.  I needed to be less, I suppose, like me and more like people who appeared happy with loads of friends.  The problem was I was still me.  I was still filled with sinful thoughts and behaviors, most of which I couldn’t see or didn’t want to.

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:2-3

Through study of God’s Holy Word, I finally had my “aha moment.”  I was seeking with the wrong motive.  What I needed to seek was joy and contentment, not how to be happy.  Why?  Because desiring happiness didn’t mean to love others, rather just myself.  It meant getting what I wanted, not what God wanted of me.  It led me to covet and be jealous of those who seemed “happier.”

In the late 1800s, Russian author Leo Tolstoy experienced his own profound revelation when seeking the meaningful life.  Born to aristocrats, he had all that wealth could provide.  He ran in highly intellectual circles debating the politics and issues of the day.  And for all that upper-class privilege he once stated,

“My life came to a standstill. I could breathe, eat, drink, and sleep, and I could not help doing these things; but there was no life, for there were no wishes the fulfillment of which I could consider reasonable… had a fairy come and offered to fulfill my desires I should not have known what to ask.”

In the course of events Tolstoy became involved with a group of Russian peasants.  What he witnessed was a hard life.  One with heavy, daily labor.  And they were content.  They, he said, knew the meaning of life and death and labored quietly.  They endured deprivations and suffering.  They lived and died seeing the good.

So how do we achieve this state of contentment?  Must we cast off all our hard-earned wealth?  Sell our homes and become Himalayan nomads?  Become like John the Baptist and wear rough clothing and eat bugs?

“Enjoying life is a matter of character, not circumstance.” Booker T. Washington

Like so many lessons gifted by God, the hard won path to contentment is not about our outward appearance.  If it were, the successful business person would be doomed.  Yet success, from a wealth perspective, is not seen in the Bible as something to be disabused.  It is only seen as causing potential difficulty for the believer.  It wasn’t the prince’s wealth that caused him not to be able to follow Jesus.  But rather his clinging to it for his happiness. (Matt 19:21-22)  His character was filled with greed and pride.

In the completed study by Cordaro he found there were two views of what people think makes for a contented life.  The first he called the “More Strategy.”  It’s that view of the western happiness mindset.  More money, more stuff.  The problem, he found, was once you got more, that feeling of happiness drifted away like the mist.

The second approach is the “Enough Strategy.”  It’s when people look inward to find the happiness.  He poured through thousands of years of ancient wisdom traditions and found that the ancients almost never used the word “happiness.” More than 90 percent of the time, they used the word “contentment,” and described it as a state of “unconditional wholeness,” regardless of what is happening externally.

The unfortunate diagnosis by Cordaro however, is that somehow we can become whole all by ourselves.  It’s the same mindset of modern, secular psychology and thousands of self-help books.  He didn’t research which ancient wisdom traditions were successful at this goal and how.  If he had, he might have discovered Jesus, who offers something far deeper than self-generated contentment. The Christian hope is not that we become whole through our own efforts, but that we are made whole through Him. The knowledge of enough ultimately begins with recognizing that, in Christ, we already have what matters most.

Enjoying The Enough Life Part Two now available!  Click here.

*Excerpt from Greater Good Magazine, May 27, 2020 What If You Pursue Contentment Rather Than Happiness?

**BBC’s Nat Rutherford

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Enjoying Life’s Possibilities

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First published May 6, 2024 as the last in the Enjoy Life: from meaningless to meaningful series.

I’m going to be completely honest with you, my friend.  Today’s post was to be what the British call “a bit of a fob off.”  You see, I had always planned to write the last look at Ecclesiastes after I returned from a 10-day trip to see my daughter and grandkids.  With a five-month-old infant and a sports-obsessed two-year-old, writing simply wasn’t possible during my visit.  Let’s just say this 59-year-old grandma (Guga as I’m affectionately called) passes out from exhaustion about 8:30pm each night after a day of bottles, diapers, up and down the stairs, laundry, baseball, football, golf, hockey, and little bits of quiet snuggling in between.  I love every single bit of it.

So here I was back home ready to jump in to the wise words of King Solomon.  And I started feeling ill.  After just a few days home I became so delirious and short of breath that I caused myself a full-blown panic attack one night thinking I was dying.  My husband managed to get me to the doctor where I tested positive for Influenza.  I can’t remember the last time I had the actual flu.  A flu that then turned into pneumonia — which is why I didn’t seem to be getting better.  My hopes of feeling up to writing even a few lines were put way, way back on the burner.

But through the blessings of the Lord, I was put on new medications just yesterday.  I now have a veritable neighborhood pharmacy on my counter.  And although walking from one room to the next still seems a bit like I’ve tried tackling the 213.7 mile John Muir Trail with my friend Betsy, I can feel my body recovering.  So instead of “fobbing off” and writing a placeholder, here I am through God’s providence, jumping into wisdom and life and the wonderful meaning of it all.

“However, many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many.” Ecclesiastes 11:8

You see, even in my darkest moments when I was really sick I was remembering some important things about this life.  That I don’t know how it all works but God does.  Ecclesiastes 1 reminded us that although we are made in God’s image, He still is the ultimate creator and has more power and knowledge than we can ever hope to amass.

“Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” Ecclesiastes 1:10

I also allowed myself to ask why God doesn’t fix things immediately at my whim or even pleading?   Which, of course, reminded me of the famous Ecclesiastes 3 scripture:

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens … a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,”Ecclesiastes 3: 1; 2-3

After my 4am panic attack and my husband had calmed my breathing, I laid back in bed thinking, “Is this what it will be like in the end?  At my final moments?  Worried and panicked?  Clawing to hold on to one more day of this life?”

When we looked at Ecclesiastes 9, we ran head first into the only truth no one can deny, no matter how hard they try.  “The same destiny overtakes us all.”  (vs 3).  And yet we cling so hard and forget about the other truth the people of this world want to deny – we have hope for those who believe.  We have an eternal place where God has a plan for justice.  Where He has brought every single one of our loved ones, who also believe, to live with us forever and ever.  Nothing left behind but sin and strife and pain and death.

My friends, if we accept that death is our future and as Solomon told us in verse 9:12, “No one knows when their hour will come,” we must take all that he says in wisdom in his last chapters 11 and 12 to heart.

“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11:5-6

The New Testament repeats the same message: know God, love God, trust God, and obey Him. We are not God. We barely understand the present moment, and often struggle to remember yesterday, let alone see tomorrow.

There’s a trend on Instagram where very talented photographers stop average looking strangers on the street and ask to take their picture.  The people (usually women) tell the photographer all the reasons why they are not worthy of having a photo taken of them.  One adult woman with fairly new braces said she would start smiling once her braces came off.  In what — two or three years?  And yet her brace-filled pictures were gorgeous!

Are you waiting to smile until something better happens in your life?   Until the right person comes along?  The right job?  The right bank account?  That “happiness” seeking roller coaster that Solomon warned us about in Ecclesiastes 6.  It’s a joy killer.  It may look like seeking meaning but it all becomes so meaningless.

“Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body,” Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

Solomon tells us, “go!”  Try that new hobby or skill.  Actively seek out new friendships and opportunities.  Tell your friend or family member how much God loves them – today.  Stop waiting until you get to the point where there’s no longer time, but also remembering all along who you belong to – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Not hedonism as we looked at chapter 10 and the Right Side of Life.  That’s meaningless folly.  True joy, true enjoyment comes from knowing and listening to the Lord and stepping onto the narrow path.

I read a quote recently that went something like this:

“Trusting God is like being married to adventure but if you are looking for an excuse, you will find one.”

In other words, if you truly trust in the Lord for His love and provision.  If you truly believe you are a beloved and beautiful daughter or son of God then He wants you to enjoy this short life He’s given you on this little blue planet.

This ancient book of wisdom on the surface seems like the last place to go to for this inspiration.  I mean reminding us from beginning to end we will all die…a real party conversation killer.  But sprinkled throughout this truth are the six reminders to “Enjoy Life.”  Enjoy life while fearing the Lord and keeping His commands (Ecc 12:13).  King Solomon did a bit too much of the first and forgot the second until towards the end of his life.  He’s pleading with you hear his God-given words now.

I read this article by editor and founder Joanna Gaines in my most recent copy of Magnolia magazine.  I realized it was a great way to end this series studying Ecclesiastes and the meaning of life.  Especially for those of you who struggle with life’s changes, the good and the frequently not so good.  We may want to retreat, go back to the old.  We pray for God to remove the struggle and the pain.  And it might get us stuck.  Stuck in bad habits, unhealthy relationships, or the lie that nothing will ever change. Stuck believing God has no better plan ahead.  Stuck in the lie that your personal cycle of life will just keep plugging away, never changing and never ending.  Which keeps us far from the concept of joy and enjoyment.  Listen to this excerpt from Mrs. Gaines’ essay titled, “Space to See Possibility” (spring 2024).

“When life swung, for the first time I didn’t hold my breath. I stood tall. I looked around. I worried less what was changing now and instead looked forward to what it could give way to the next. I asked myself, “What beautiful thing can come from this? What did I learn that can carry me forward?” And I came to realize that it’s the aftermath that’s the most formative. It was how we landed, how we let what was different be its own kind of beautiful. It was how we reset, changed course, and believed in the goodness to come.”

As my head has started to clear from my illnesses – my dizziness is dissipating and my vision is clearing – I look back over how often I sought the Lord.  How often I thanked Him for seemingly endless boxes of Kleenex, soft sheets, a comfortable bed, doctors, pharmacists, drug inventors and scientists, friends, clean water, my husband and daughters, and more.  I pleaded but I didn’t know if I would be healed or when.  I felt terrible yet, still I knew my life is good.  A life to enjoy even in the least enjoyable moments.  Because that’s what our faith gives us.  Head scratching, oppositeness from the world.  A life of meaning.

My friend, I hold out my hand to you asking you to join me on this great adventure called Jehovah, God, Jesus, Elohim, Holy Spirit. Ask Him today, “What’s next?” and go enjoy.

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Enjoying the Surrender

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First published March 11, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: Ecclesiastes from meaningless to meaningful series.

A friend of mine recently surrendered a bitter, past hurt over to the Lord.  She started with obedience, albeit reluctantly, she admits.  The pain caused by her last church has been difficult to overcome. She told me she’s been praying one of the best prayers you could ever pray: “Help me imitate Jesus .”  As part of a study about revival we’ve been doing she’s also spent a lot more time just listening for God’s Word.  Not asking, pleading, telling, or even praising.  Just listening.  And He has spoken.

You see my friend used to love teaching children the Word of God. At her old church she was deeply involved in children’s ministry. After a tumultuous pastor change and the subsequent wrangling for top dog positions within the church, a few staff members were laid off without warning. She was one of them. She had given her whole heart over to the ministry and felt betrayed. It led her to declare she would never serve in children’s ministry again, ever.

And then in January we opened Pastor Robby Gallaty’s study on revival titled, “Revive Us.” He encouraged us to spend time with God starting with just five minutes of quiet time. We soon worked our way up to 15, then 20 and finally 30 minutes. Over the course of the next two months, we shared what God showed us. A word here and there, a vision of being loved, a message of strength, a picture of His majesty.

For my friend?  After praying yet again on how to imitate Jesus, she found herself in her quiet time with a vision of a beach scene.  A man teaching little children at the edge of the sea.  Love abounded from child to teacher and teacher to child.  The teacher turned and looked at her and smiled.  It was Jesus.  She was overcome with tears; real tears streaming down her face in realization that to imitate Jesus would be to do the one thing she had refused.  To do the one thing she knew God had gifted her.  To teach the children.

Although she had already agreed to “dip a toe” into Sunday School by observing the following week, she did so with trepidation.  That vision, given to her the day before she was to serve, filled her with love and joy.  When she walked into the children’s ministry department the administrator was so happy to see her – they were short leaders in Kindergarten.  “Would she take on the class?” she was asked.  Without any hesitation my friend agreed.  You should have heard the joy in her voice when she told us how she was immediately loved by the children, how she danced and sang, how she was filled with the Holy Spirit.  How she was healed!  

The moment my friend stopped protecting her wound and surrendered it to God, she found what Solomon spent a lifetime searching for.

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

My friend’s experience stands in stark contrast to King Solomon’s reflections in Ecclesiastes 2.

Solomon was the richest man in the world at the time. He had everything at his fingertips. He built palace after palace. He made large parks and orchards. He had plenty of female slaves to do his every (and I mean every) bidding. He had singers, dancers, gold, silver, food, drink – all the delights of a man’s heart (Ecc 2:8). And he was miserable. He was seeking meaning and purpose. He tried buying it and building it and owning it.

“The abundant life is to be found in ‘treasuring up for God’ rather than for self.” Kenneth Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes

What did my friend have?  A humble servant heart, slightly broken and needing mending.  She didn’t seek to enrich her life.  She asked to serve the One True God, Jesus Christ.  So, He gave her 10 little, beautiful faces that Sunday.  Little children who were eager to be her new friend and to mend her heart.

I once read that we should see ourselves as channels of joy rather than reservoirs.  Meaning we don’t store up all the blessing for ourselves but rather send them on to others.  Pastor Gallaty reminded us of this truth.  Through intercessory prayer and acts of service we become those channels.

“If revival coming to your family or community depended on your prayers, would it come?”Pastor Robby Gallaty

When our prayer life and subsequent actions serve only to enrich ourselves, we find our situation mirroring Solomon’s.  Striving and chasing wealth, status, knowledge and even wisdom – with God as a supplemental figure or not thought of at all, really.  When our pursuit of pleasure, comfort, or even “peace” becomes our highest priority, we miss the beautiful work God wants to do in our lives.

“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Man in traditional robes calmly standing between a woman and a man who are arguing on a city street
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A Wisdom That Surprises

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“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” – Proverbs 2:6

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”— Romans 11:33

Think back to the last difficult situation you were faced with.  Or even the one approaching.  The uncomfortable conversation with a boss or employee.  The painful discussion you needed to have with your family member.  The awkward topic you decided to broach with your friend.  How much sleep did you lose over it?  How much worrying did you do?

How much prayer time did you devote to it?  And if you said to God, “I trust you to give me the right words and soften the other person’s heart,” did you then go back to worrying about it?

Or how about this: You prayed, you trusted and you saw God do something amazing.  Something you never expected.  A third option from the terrible two you had only seen available.

Asking for Wisdom

I’m working on this concept constantly these days.  Before going into situations that make me uncomfortable or ones where I might make a fool of myself (of which there seems to be many!) I’ve started praying for the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom.  And to help me to know when to keep my mouth shut.  

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” — James 1:5

James was spot on when he wrote this Holy inspired advice.  If you don’t know, ask God, who gives us wisdom.  He gives us that wisdom from His ever-flowing fount of His own wisdom.  A wisdom unmatched by any human being ever to have lived.  He gave Solomon his renowned wisdom simply because he asked for it.

“And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.” — 1 Kings 3:28

King Solomon’s subjects stood in amazement at his ability to resolve difficult situations.  His notable decision between two women claiming the same child revealed truth through an unexpected solution.  He decreed the baby would be cut in half and each piece given to each woman.  The real mother gave up her right to the child so the son would live.  She pleaded for his life.  Which told everyone to whom the child truly belonged.

Jesus’ Third Way

I’ve read that this type of resolution is called the “third way.”  I warn you if you look up that term you’ll find some wacky political ideas and unfortunate progressive Christian theories.  But hidden amongst those is Jesus’ “third way.”

What I mean by that is on at least four occasions Jesus was given an either/or question and he answered with a better, third option.  For example, in John 8, when the Pharisees presented the woman accused of adultery to Jesus, He was tasked with deciding to stone her or let her go.  It was a trap designed to reveal Jesus’ rejection of Moses’ law.  Instead, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy.  

“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

It all ends with the men leaving in shame and Jesus forgiving the woman’s sin.  He tells her, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”  

Jesus reveals His “third way” wisdom when asked about taxes to Caeser, the healing on the Sabbath, the man born blind and more.  His wisdom is shown in all its glory.  Options, which after hearing about them, seem so simple. Yet how often does God’s wisdom surprise us?

Weak vs Powerful Wisdom

We often quote Proverbs 3:7 – Do not be wise in your own eyes – yet we fall back on our own weak wisdom almost daily.  We forget to go to the fount and drink deeply.  We miss the opportunity to see God at work in miraculous ways.

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” — 1 Corinthians 1:25

Throughout the Bible and even in our own lives, we witness weak, apparently ineffectual people being used to further God’s kingdom.  David, the tiny son, chosen to lead a nation.  Peter, the brash and excitable fisherman, who God calls as His rock on which to build the church.  You and me – average people with average skills and influence who regularly make bad decisions – tasked to spread the Gospel.

How can this system ever be successful?  Because God is the engine.  His wisdom is the power source that lights up our conversations and opens hearts and minds.

That’s the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to the people of the Colossian church when he writes:

“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” — Colossians 2:2-3

Because of God’s wisdom, power and authority the Word of God comes alive and knits us together.  His wisdom resolves conflict, distress and pain in our relationships.  How can we not plug into that daily?

Trusting in Jesus is our third way wisdom.  In our churches, Bible studies, home groups, communities etc, putting our allegiance to Jesus first.  Loving each other despite our other differences and watching God work miraculously in each of us.

He Knows Better

Friends, my dad would constantly get stuck fretting over situations because he felt the need and burden to come up with the answers all by himself.  I once tried convincing him to go to marriage counseling.  He replied, “I know what the problem is already and your mom won’t go.”  To which I replied, “You only know the solutions your limited thinking can come up with.  Someone outside the situation with wisdom and experience will probably give you a better solution.”  

But like so many of us, he just couldn’t get past being wise in his own eyes.  And his married life continued to be a source of pain until the day he died.  We do the same when we come up with our plan then maybe ask God to make sure it works.  To pray that God fixes our difficult person the way we want them fixed.

Let’s make a commitment to trust that God is so much wiser than us.  To pray for wisdom be given to us from His great fount.  And sit back and watch His miracles and mysteries unfold.

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” — Revelation 7:12

Did you miss a 30 Days of Reverence post? Click here to see all of the ways we can revere our God and Savior!

Want more of God’s wisdom? Check out my series, 31 Days of God’s Wisdom today!

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Enjoying Life’s Possibilities

krisshetter

It’s been a great adventure studying Ecclesiastes with you! I hope you have enjoyed it — please share the series with your friends or catch up on what you missed. Click here for all of the Enjoy Life: from Meaningless to Meaningful posts!

I’m going to be completely honest with you, my friend.  Today’s post was to be what the British call “a bit of a fob off.”  You see, I had always planned to write the last look at Ecclesiastes after I returned from a 10 day trip to see my daughter and grandkids.  With a five month old infant and a two-year old who is obsessed with every sport, it’s now too difficult to continue writing when I visit and take care of them for eight hours.  Let’s just say this 59-year old grandma (Guga as I’m affectionately called) passes out from exhaustion about 8:30pm each night after a day of bottles, diapers, up and down the stairs, laundry, baseball, football, golf, hockey, and little bits of quiet snuggling in between.  I love every single bit of it.

So here I was back home ready to jump in to the wise words of King Solomon.  And I started feeling ill.  After just a few days home I became so delirious and short of breath that I caused myself a full blown panic attack one night thinking I was dying.  My husband managed to get me to the doctor where I tested positive for Influenza.  I can’t remember the last time I had the actual flu.  A flu that then turned into pneumonia — which is why I didn’t seem to be getting better. My hopes of feeling up to writing even a few lines were put way, way back on the burner.

But through the blessings of the Lord, I was put on new medications just yesterday.  I now have a veritable neighborhood pharmacy on my counter.  And although walking from one room to the next still seems a bit like I’ve tried tackling the 213.7 mile John Muir Trail with my friend Betsy, I can feel my body recovering.  So instead of “fobbing off” and writing a placeholder, here I am through God’s providence, jumping into wisdom and life and the wonderful meaning of it all.

However, many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness,for there will be many. Ecclesiastes 11:8

You see, even in my darkest moments when I was really sick I was remembering some important things about this life.  That I don’t know how it all works but God does.  Ecclesiastes 1 reminded us that although we are made in God’s image, He still is the ultimate creator and has more power and knowledge than we can ever hope to amass.

Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.  Ecclesiastes 1:10

I also allowed myself to ask why God doesn’t fix things immediately at my whim or even pleading?  Which, of course, reminded me of the famous Ecclesiastes 3 scripture:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens … a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3  a time to kill and a time to heal, Ecclesiastes 3: 1 & 2-3

After my 4am panic attack and my husband had calmed my breathing, I laid back in bed thinking, “Is this what it will be like in the end?  At my final moments?  Worried and panicked?  Clawing to hold on to one more day of this life?”  

When we looked at Ecclesiastes 9, we ran head first into the only truth no one can deny, no matter how hard they try.  “The same destiny overtakes us all.” (vs 3).  And yet we cling so hard and forget about the other truth the people of this world want to deny – we have hope for those who believe.  We have an eternal place where God has a plan for justice.  Where He has brought every single one of our loved ones, who also believe, to live with us forever and ever.  Nothing left behind but sin and strife and pain and death.

My friends, if we accept that death is our future and as Solomon told us in verse 9:12, “No one knows when their hour will come,” we must take all that he says in wisdom in his last chapters 11 and 12 to heart.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes 11:5-6

It’s a message repeated throughout the New Testament.  Know God, love God, trust God, obey God.  We are not God and we can only know what is happening this very moment (and we can barely remember what happened yesterday!)  

There’s a trend on Instagram where very talented photographers stop every day looking strangers on the street and ask to take their picture.  The people (usually women) tell the photographer all the reasons why they are not worthy of having a photo taken of them.  One adult woman with fairly new braces said she would start smiling once her braces came off.  In what — two or three years?  And yet her braces-filled pictures were gorgeous! 

Are you waiting to smile until something better happens in your life?  Until the right person comes along?  The right job?  The right bank account?  That “happiness” seeking roller coaster that Solomon warned us about in Ecclesiastes 6.  It’s a joy killer.  It may look like seeking meaning but it all becomes so meaningless.

Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

Solomon tells us, “go!”  Try that new hobby or skill.  Actively seek out new friendships and opportunities.  Tell your friend or family member how much God loves them – today.  Stop waiting until you get to the point where there’s no longer time, but also remembering all along who you belong to – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Not hedonism as we looked at chapter 10 and the Right Side of Life.  That’s meaningless folly.  True joy, true enjoyment comes from knowing and listening to the Lord and stepping onto the narrow path.

I read a quote recently that went something like this:

Trusting God is like being married to adventure but if you are looking for an excuse, you will find one.”

In other words, if you truly trust in the Lord for His love and provision.  If you truly believe you are a beloved and beautiful daughter or son of God then He wants you to enjoy this short life He’s given you on this little blue planet.  

This ancient book of wisdom on the surface seems like the last place to go to for this inspiration.  I mean reminding us from beginning to end we will all die…a real party conversation killer.  But sprinkled throughout this truth are the six reminders to “Enjoy Life.”  Enjoy life while fearing the Lord and keeping His commands (Ecc 12:13).  King Solomon did a bit too much of the first and forgot the second until towards the end of his life.  He’s pleading with you hear his God-given words now.

I read this article by editor and founder Joanna Gaines in my most recent copy of Magnolia magazine.  I realized it was a great way to end this series studying Ecclesiastes and the meaning of life.  Especially for those of you who struggle with life’s changes, the good and the frequently not so good.  We may want to retreat, go back to the old.  We pray for God to remove the struggle and the pain.  And it might get us stuck.  Stuck in bad habits and bad relationships.  Stuck in not believing the God who created the heavens and the earth also has a plan and blessings waiting for you.  Stuck in the lie that your personal cycle of life will just keep plugging away, never changing and never ending.  Which keeps us far from the concept of joy and enjoyment.  Listen to this excerpt from Mrs. Gaines’ essay titled, “Space to See Possibility” (spring 2024).

When life swung, for the first time I didn’t hold my breath.  I stood tall.  I looked around.  I worried less what was changing now and instead looked forward to what it could give way to the next.  I asked myself, “What beautiful thing can come from this?  What did I learn that can carry me forward?  And I came to realize that it’s the aftermath that’s the most formative.  It was how we landed, how we let what was different be its own kind of beautiful.  It was how we reset, changed course, and believed in the goodness to come.”

As my head has started to clear from my illnesses – my dizziness is dissipating and my vision is clearing – I look back over how often I sought the Lord.  How often I thanked Him for seemingly endless boxes of Kleenex, soft sheets, a comfortable bed, doctors, pharmacists, drug inventors and scientists, friends, clean water, my husband and daughters, and more.  I pleaded but I didn’t know if I would be healed or when. I felt terrible yet, still I knew my life is good.  A life to enjoy even in the least enjoyable moments.  Because that’s what our faith gives us.  Head scratching, oppositeness from the world.  A life of meaning.

My friend, I hold out my hand to you asking you to join me on this great adventure called Jehovah, God, Jesus, Elohim, Holy Spirit.  Ask Him today, “What’s next?” and go enjoy.