Ecclesiastes contains the thoughts of “the Philosopher”, a man who reflected deeply on how short and contradictory human life is, with its mysterious injustices and frustrations, and concluded that “life is useless”.
He could not understand the ways of God, who controls human destiny.
The theme of Ecclesiastes is the necessity of fearing God in this fallen, confusing world.
Each human being wants to understand all the ways God is acting in the world, but he cannot, because he is not God.
And yet the faithful do not despair but cling to God, even when they cannot see what God is doing.
🍁 A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence
(Proverbs 19: 11)
☘️ When someone looses their patience, it generally means they become frustrated, irritable, or unable to remain calm and composed in a given situation
Sensible people control their temper. They earn respect by overlooking wrongs
We overlook offenses by looking up to God. We don’t focus on the offense itself
🙏 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly
(Proverbs 14: 29)
☘️ The fruit of the Spirit is patience
🙏 Run the race that is set before you with endurance
(Hebrews 12: 1)
☘️ Perseverance is a great temperament. Anyone who looses patience may looses his soul
🙏 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
(Hebrews 10: 36)
☘️ The most indispensable thing is patience. And patience can only be learned through tribulation, trial, and pain
🙏 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance
(Romans 5: 3)
☘️ Before the Lord returns, it is the most difficult time to endure, and it is also the time when patience is most needed. Patience is needed in suffering, and patience is needed in waiting. Faith, love, and hope all also need patience to be perfected
🙏 You also must be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is at hand
(James 5:8)
☘️ But often the only way you can truly dismiss, release, and let go of an offense is to get into the presence of the Lord and let Him help you
🙏 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently
(Romans 8: 25)
☘️ Give yourself patience
It takes time to learn and grow
Be kind to yourselves, empathetic and resilience. This is what you need to grow
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains
🙏 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance
(2 Peter 3: 9)
🙏 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3: 12)
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ECCLESIASTES 8: 1-17
Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed
🍁 Obey Authorities for God’s Sake
I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him
Be not hasty to go from his presence
Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases
For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?
Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way
For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him
For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?
No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it
All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt
🍁 Death Comes to All
Then I saw the wicked buried They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things This also is vanity
Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him
But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God
There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out
