Work of God at All Times (Ecc 7: 13-14)

WORK OF GOD AT ALL TIMES (Ecc 7: 13-14):

After writing about the importance of patience and wisdom, the author writes to consider the work of God, who can make straight what He has made crooked. God is the source of everything in the universe and he is all-powerful and sovereign over all the created beings. God is incomprehensible and he is a wonderful creator. Though God is impartial and righteous, he had given the free will to human beings which he never pulls back. Man’s negligence of God and disobedience is the root cause for many discriminations and deviations from the real purpose God had made everything. God allows people to take different positions and have different interests. Though there are certain things that could not be controlled by a person at his birth like the place, religion, or certain other social segregations that the humans had made. All the discriminations and the segregations that the humans made could be changed by each individual by knowing God and His purpose of creation. There is no one who could influence certain things that God had made or allowed, which the author rhetorically asks who could make straight what He has made straight.

The author says that there is nothing that could be controlled but everything could be accepted and acknowledged when we understand the nature and sovereignty of God. So, the author says to be joyful in the day of prosperity and the author says to consider things in the day of adversity. Life is not just a composite of the happy moments but there would be adversities too. Though God created everything for a good purpose towards happiness, God allowed the deviations and evilness because He had given the Free will to man. So, the author makes a conclusive statement that God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything. Man is all finite and couldn’t comprehend the works of infinite God. A man could predict things but could never ascertain things that are going to happen. Enjoying the best moments and learning from the worse moments are all that human beings could do in the world, and it could be done in the best way, only with God in life.

Stimulations for Self-Reflection:

1.    What the author says to consider?

2.    Why does the author say to consider the work of God?

3.    Why a person could not make what God has made crooked?

4.    How a person should handle the day of prosperity?

5.    How a person should handle the day of adversity?

6.    Why a person should be joyful in prosperity and consider adversity?

7.    Does God make both joyful and adverse moments? Justify?

8.    Why man may not find out anything that will be after him?

9.    How we can acknowledge the Work of God in our life?