How to live more wisely, part 2

Continued from yesterday... Ecclesiastes 7 1-25

9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Well do I really have to explain this one? This goes back to my post and Carries article in the newsletter about acting like a Christian and reacting like a Christian. What spills out of your heart and through your lips when you are provoked? Christ?


10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. Well here is my metaphor for this. Well first of all the Israelites did this and we can all see how foolish they were. But here I go with my twisted way of thinking. You are on a path to heaven and all of a sudden you realize just high steep the road is becoming. Duh, heaven is up! You are so close, but you are out of breath. You turn around and see how flat it was at first. You know it was so much easier back there. You long for the days of easy. Now you have a choice easier would be to run back down the hill which you just have halfway summitted, or harder would be to press on. You are almost there. Which is the foolish way? You do have a time limit to get to the top of this hill. Does it make a lot of sense to go back to the beginning? This ain't chutes and ladders folks! There is not a lucky throw of dice to land you on the long ladder back to the top.

11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. First of all, it is something your father leaves to you. Here is the most encouraging thing... do you see the sun? Yes? I thought so; so do I. You and I will receive the benefits of this inheritance. You or I may not be the one who receives the wisdom, but I/ we will benefit from the person who does. So even if my prayer for wisdom is never answered, someones is. Someone I will be able to learn from, be counseled by, and encouraged by will have received Gods great wisdom. Thank you God for this promise!

12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. In my youthful/ childish prayers for wisdom, I knew that money was a shelter. I did not realize that God's wisdom as much more of a shelter than even wealth. I can have all of the money I could possibly want, but without wisdom it would be wasted. I am so very glad I am not wealthy for it would be wasted. I cannot manage a little bit of money and have had to hire a coach to teach me how and break my bad habits. In the days I had money, I gave a lot away frivolously, spent much on myself and most likely lost a lot in the couch! (I remember once pulling out an old purse to change for the season and finding a week’s worth of tips in it00 $500). It was no surprise I had more money than I could handle. When I finally collected all of the change lying around in Ernie's house and couch... we had $600 and were able to fly to Canada for a vacation with a suite with 2 rooms-- those were the days of the high US dollar. My money would have not done me a bit of good in my ignorant years-- even now I am a little less ignorant but still my money would not carry me anywhere.

13 Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? Don't second guess God's masterpiece. When I consider all that He has made, I feel so small, but so very treasured. I who am no more than a dust speck in the realm of all of His creation have His undivided attention. He sees my tears, he sings songs over me, when I rejoice He rejoices with me, when I cry He wipes my tears... Me, the dust speck. Another happy little metaphor-- My diamond. I treasure it above most all of my possessions. What is it other than a piece of carbon squashed in some serious pressure for thousands of years? A piece of dust? I am His diamond. Now about straightening the crooked??? I don't know other than maybe it goes along with the next verse.

14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. I will not expound here! Be encouraged by His words not mine!

I am going to continue this tomorrow for this post is getting really long. So till tomorrow... Love ya!