Ecclesiastes 7: 1-8
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes is also known as the preacher. We would be looking at some crucial lessons we can learn from the book of Ecclesiastes.
“The end of a thing is better than the beginning and patience better than pride.
For many of us who have had cause to undergo a form of training or the other, we realise that at the point of admission so many are excited to be part of the programme and look forward to it.
As the days go by, we see people fall along the wayside and who can no longer continue.
On the day of graduation, the joy of successful completion overshadows any that was felt on the day of admission.
This is because the day of graduation marks the battles we won during training and showed the test of our patience.
In the Christian race, we are encouraged to keep running faithfully because the joy we had at salvation is nothing compared to the joy that awaits us in eternity.
A lot of brethren that started well on the journey of faith have fallen by the wayside but the Lord is counting on us to patiently trust in Him to carry us through to the end. Dear friends, let us patiently carry our cross as the Lord strengthens and enables us.
Ecclesiastes 7: 11-14
Consider what God has done:
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
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.
“When times are good be happy, but when times are bad, consider that God made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover their future” Ecc 7: 14.
Sometimes the godly/righteous suffer pain and have bad experiences. Virtually every man who has walked the surface of the earth has had a fair share of both sides of the good and bad experiences.
It bothers me when I see people question the existence of God, and his marvellous works because they are passing through one hard time or the other. Too many a time we don't realise God is the only reason why the situation is not worse than it already is.
Many people have lost their sanity and some their lives while going through the same thing you may be going through.
It is baffling that in good times, nobody ever remembers to ask God that same question “Why me?” even when we know we are totally undeserving.
Dear brother/sister, don't laugh at that person who seems to be going tough times because He seemingly deserves it, rather pray for, encourage, support and counsel such a one in those times; for we are called to help bear one another's burden and you would need your brothers/sisters too in your time of need.