Do you believe that God is in control? That God knows you and understands what you’re feeling? That He is holding the world in His hands? That He is present at this very second?
Of course you do. We all say we do. But when trouble strikes, we don’t always live like we do. We look for answers. We look for a way out. We look for someone to blame. We look for tangible things that we can touch. Things that we can feel. We come out of the womb with these instincts. It’s only through Christ and His work in our lives that we can face these situations with peace and with hope.
As we dive into this scripture, stop for a moment and pray that God will open up your heart to receive, understand, and put into action what He is showing us through this verse.
Done praying? Ok, here we go.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NLT)
Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
The verse above states a few things. We’ll discuss two of them today.
The first thing to notice is that it tells us that hard times will strike. Notice that it doesn’t say, “…but IF hard times strike…” No, it says, “WHEN hard times strike.” Hard times will come. There’s nothing we can do to avoid them. Many of us know this well while some of us are just beginning to understand it. Hard times will strike.
The second thing it tells us is that God is in control of both the good and the bad. He is sovereign. We don’t have to worry that something got by Him. Before we even know about the situation, He knows. Furthermore, before we even begin to think about how to handle the situation, God has seen the outcome. God is in control at all times.
Pray that God will help you trust Him through the hard times.
We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow.
