July 21, 2020 – Click here to listen
Yesterday I was going bonkers from boredom. I’m sure I feel like many of you. It seems as though we are perpetually stuck in Groundhog Day. Each new day repeats itself with torturous repetition.
I hate to waste one day of my life, but that is exactly what I feel is happening. I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God just sat around. When He created the heavens and earth, He was busy six days and set aside the seventh as His Sabbath day to rest. Aside from the Sabbath Day, He was at work.
King Solomon accomplished so much during his life that it was difficult to enumerate it all. Like the rest of us he sinned but he also built the temple in Jerusalem and wrote three masterpieces that are included in the Bible.
When he got old, he wrote most of Proverbs but also in Ecclesiastes he gave us glimpses of his fascinating life. It is worthwhile to study this book because he became the richest man of his time and according to the Bible was the wisest man who ever lived or would live. He was an amazing king and world leaders like the Queen of Sheba traveled vast distances and endured hardships just to sit at his knee and listen to his wisdom. He had an amazing knowledge of just about any subject, even ordinary things such as birds, animals, plants, and many other subjects.
He wrote about God in Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.”
There is an adage that states, “we never knew what we have until it is taken away from us.” Freedom to come and go as we please has never been more missed and cherished, at least in my lifetime. I miss going to church, seeing my children and grandchildren, going out to eat with friends, getting on an airplane and going somewhere, going to the gym daily, and so on.
I was reading in Samuel today about King David trying to escape the wrath of King Saul who wanted to kill him. I told my Bible study partner that it reminded me of the trials that Moses, Joseph, the Apostle Paul and other biblical heroes underwent prior to emerging from it as powerhouses for the Lord. It seems that God desires the purification of His people. Once we pass through the fire, we come out on the other side better for it, having endured the worst of it so we can enjoy the best of it. So I suppose we should do as recommended in 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you.
We must be patient and suffer through this time of trouble and be happy that the will of God has resulted in our having Jesus by our side as He perfects us.
James 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.