It was my observation when reading Ecclesiastes that life is messy. The truth of God does not fit into neat piles of guidance. Truth appears to be messy to the human mind. Yet, I am quite convinced that truth is perfectly neat and orderly in God’s mind. But let me state the obvious—we are not God.
Solomon speaks of this conundrum in Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 “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 [else] knows whether love or hate awaits them. 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. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. [We all die]. This is the evil in everything [our original sin] that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people [who do not walk with God], moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but [without Jesus] 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.” [the bracketed words are mine]…
I tend to believe that things worth learning should not be too easy to learn. If wisdom were easy to comprehend and absorb, why bother? We can get that kind of cheap knowledge on the back of a box of breakfast cereal. There would be no need to study. On the other hand, searching the Word of God for life lessons and true wisdom helps us navigate the deep troubles of the day. We will always learn things that are highly useful for ourselves or for others. An honest encounter with the Word of God will always lead to something practical in real life.
So, what do we do? Our happiness and balance as people who walk with God will arise from the inward support of Jesus, the Father’s comfort that immerses the righteous with peace, and the lessons learned during threat management that develop our character through the fruit of the Spirit. The tiniest crumb of support coming from the Father’s love in answer to prayer will have an amazing impact on us. The hope is that we learn to use those crumbs from God with wisdom to build enduring character.
Ecclesiastes 9:16-18 says “Wisdom is better than strength. But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”
It appears to me that wisdom will cause things to happen that the forceful person will never be able to accomplish. Wisdom will always be the right path, stronger than the weaponization of muscle or noise. When we stand in God’s shadow, no one can touch our soul, no one can separate us from Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will teach us the right words for each situation, wisdom will provide courage to open our mouth, Jesus will corral the listening ears. Proverbs 4:11-13 says “I [will] instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to [my] instruction [wisdom], do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.” This seems like good advice to me.
I choose Jesus.