Life isn't fair. Ever notice? We work. We plan. We endeavor to do our best. And yet it seems our efforts, no matter how intensive and/or exhausting they may be, at times, fall short. Whether an endeavor is a stunning success or turns out to be a spectacular failure many can be tempted with an overwhelming sense of underwhelming dissatisfaction. And then there's the things life blind-sides us with! We go by the rules. We do what is expected of us and at times a little more. Sooner or later whether in youth or in the elderly stage of life one is going to sense the pressures of this life and be confronted with questions such as, "Is this all there is to life? To struggle?", "Does my life really make a difference?" or "Why do things get so tough?"
It shouldn't be a surprise as God tells us in His Word that it... life... isn't fair. Is that God's fault? No! Of course not! His people, God's people (like it or believe it or not) have had throughout time, a personal and collective enemy. King Solomon being a prophet in his time (the conventional dates of his reign being circa 970 to 937 BC) spoke of it but didn't see the spiritual aspect of this unfairness as that knowledge wasn't made available to God's people of that time. It wasn't until the ministry of the life that was known as Jesus was manifested, of who made plain the spiritual aspects of life to his followers. It was Jesus that exposed the spiritual darkness where evil originates. It was the Messiah, The Promised One, God's only genetically conceived son that showed us, God's people, how to recognize, confront and defeat evil. And yet this spiritual evil was still perceived by many well before us, that were not born again. Perceived by many for hundreds of years prior to Jesus' teachings. As recorded in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Written by Solomon (famed as the wisest of his time) in his later years.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-18 (ERV) (Easy To Read Version)
5 The living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything. They have no more reward. People will soon forget them.
6 After people are dead, their love, hate, and jealously are all gone. And they will never again share in what happens on earth.
Enjoy Life While You Can
7 So go and eat your food now and enjoy it. Drink your wine and be happy. It is all right with God if you do these things.
8 Wear nice clothes and make yourself look good.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy every day of your short life. God has given you this short life on earth and it is all you have. So enjoy the work you have to do in this life.
10 Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can. In the grave there is no work. There is no thinking, no knowledge and there is no wisdom. And we are all going to the place of death.
Life Is Not Fair
11 I also saw other things in this life that were not fair. The fastest runner does not always win the race; the strongest soldier does not always win the battle; wise people don't always get the food; smart people don't always get the wealth; educated people don't always get the praise they deserve. When the time comes, bad things can happen to anyone!
12 You never know when hard times will come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often trapped by some disaster that suddenly falls on them.
The Power Of Wisdom
13 I also saw a person doing a wise thing in this life, and it seemed very important to me.
14 There was a small town with a few people in it. A great king fought against that town and put his armies all around it.
15 But there was a wise man in that town. He was poor, but he used his wisdom to save his town. After everything was finished, the people forgot about the poor man.
16 But I still say that wisdom is better than strength. They forgot about the poor man's wisdom, and the people stopped listening to what he said. But I still believe that wisdom is better.
17 Words spoken by the wise are heard more clearly than those shouted by a leader among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one fool can destroy much good.
It is available to overcome the unfairness of life. One needs genuine spiritual wisdom to exercise one's spiritual rights effectively in this life to live sanctified, set apart, from the evil that is in the world. Spiritual wisdom comes by applying spiritual knowledge over a period of time. Spiritual knowledge comes by the revealing of it by the Author of Life through an accurate study of His Word, which is known as The Holy Bible. Your spiritual growth is completely dependant upon your meekness to it and your desire to grow. As it is written, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." The terms "hunger" and "thirst" implies one needs to have an appetite for righteousness. For right living according to the Creator of Life. Otherwise this nourishing, this strengthening is profitless. And God's Word is not profitless to those of us that desire to live a life of abundance of all the things which God desires for us to have! Such as love. Joy. Peace. ect. Regardless of all the unfairness of this life!
Links
Sheba's Visit To Solomon Solomon: King of Israel Ecclesiastes 9:5-18 (KJV)
Matthew 5:1-18 (KJV) II Timothy 3:16-17 (AMP) Perceptions
This post originally published on my blog TheHollerinStump.com on 01/16/2016. The blog is built on Blogger and hosted by Google. They have locked me out of my account there until I update my payment details. Therefore it won’t be getting registered and will cease to be available in the late spring of 2023. I am reposting as many of these posts here as I see relevant before then.
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❤️ God is our strength! Great read ! Thanks for sharing.