Welcome back for another walk in the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes!

I wrestled with whether to type something up on this section for a different reason I almost skipped over “anger” last week. I feel I’m still on the border of fully understanding this part, but I’ll share here what I’ve gotten from it and hope it makes sense!

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Today, we’re focusing on Ecclesiastes 7:10-13.

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

an advantage to those who see the sum.

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.

Consider the work of God:

who can make straight what he has made crooked?

“Why were the former days better than these?” reminds me so much of life… prior years, many moons ago, it all seems so much better than today. Can we go back?

But then he writes that it’s not from wisdom that we ask this…

We don’t know God’s plan, but we do know that He has the power to give and take away. One commentary takes us back to Job here. He had so much, was close to God and was immensely blessed. God took that away and Job cried out in Job 29:2-5:

“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,

as in the days when God watched over me,

when his lamp shone upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness,

as I was in my prime,

when the friendship of God was upon my tent,

when the Almighty was yet with me,

when me children were all around me

I think we look at Job and see that our situation not be that bad. We don’t really fault him for crying out. The guy was put through the ringer by the devil.

But Solomon writes that it’s folly to question the creator and this wisdom we seek is unsearchable.

I found it rather interesting that in verse 13, he says, “who can make straight what he has made crooked?” and in Proverbs 3:6 it says, “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

It’s important to remember that we’re not meant to know all. We’re not God. He’s sealed up things to be revealed in their time (look at Revelation!) and some we may never know. Knowledge, as we’ve talked of before, can be a burden and it’s one we’re not meant to bare in our roles in this world He created.

Because of this, he makes some things crooked (like sealing up a revelation) and some paths straight (how we’re supposed to live according to His will & word).

I like to know the whys. Why is it this way? Why is this happening? Why why why… but rarely do we have the answers.

Instead, I’ve had to intentionally turn my thinking from asking “why” to asking “what is God showing me in this?”

It’s not always the trial we need to figure out, but what God has for us in the middle of the trial. The ending of the trial isn’t the opportunity. When the trial’s over, I mean… you’re kind of in a good spot. You feel relieved. You’re ready to tackle the next thing in life.

We don’t need to go looking for trials because they’re not in short supply for any of us.

The trial itself is where we’re being worked on and built up. When we get to the end? It’s not our strength that got us there. It was His.

So how could we get through and say look how far I’ve come! All along, it was Him.

What I see here is another opportunity to turn my eyes to Him and refocus. Partner with God in facing trials, knowing He’s there to provide and equip to get through and acknowledging that it’s not us but Him working in us and to change our why’s into show me, God.

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What has God shown you in your trials?

How can you encourage someone this week in theirs?

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Have a great week!