Ecclesiastes 7:14
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.
When Life is Good
It is so easy to forget God when things
are going well, isn’t it? In fact, David actually prayed that it was
good that his soul was afflicted so that he wouldn’t forget his God and
remember all of His goodness (Psalm 119:71). The tendency for me–and I
would guess for you–is that when things are going well, we focus less on
our reliance upon God than when things are not going so well for us.
God actually shows His faithfulness when He afflicts us (Psalm 119:75)
and when things are good. God reminded Israel that He humbled them when
they were hungry in the wilderness (Deut. 8:3) but also warned them to
be careful that when they were full and satisfied and had produce and
wealth, their hearts might become filled with pride and they would
forget their reliance on Him (Deut. 8:12-14).
Remembering God
The greatest risk of a fall is right
after or during a great success. The history of the kings of Israel
shows that when they became strong and prosperous, they drifted away
from God. When we start to think we’re self-sufficient, we take our eyes
off of God, perhaps looking at our own checkbooks. I speak from
experience. I know many others who had learned this lesson the hard way.
When the kings of Israel were blessed, they would often start looking
at themselves differently. When David numbered the troops, God was angry
because David was looking at his forces as something that he did and
not God. He looked at it as his own work and may have stopped looking to
God and relying upon Him and Him alone (1 Chron. 21:1-7).
Being Thankful
I think one of the greatest sins of this
nation, and at times one that I am guilty of, is a lack of thankfulness
for God’s manifold blessings. It is just so easy to take God’s
blessings for granted, and the sin of ingratitude (un-thankfulness) is
one that sometimes causes God to withdraw some of His blessings. Why not
bless God’s name and give Him thanks for being so kind to us? The
temptation for all of us is that when things are going well, we are
unthankful and we take God for granted. That is one of the sins that
marks the beginning of the end times where Paul warns Timothy in his
last letter that in the latter times, people will become lovers of self
and of their money, boastful, scoffing at God, disobedient and
disrespectful to their parents (regardless of their parent’s age),
unholy, and, finally, unthankful (2 Tim. 3:2). Paul lists these grievous
sins alongside ingratitude. This means that God must take this sin as
seriously as the others. Self-sufficiency can lead to self-reliance, and
self-reliance does little to make us still be reliant upon God.
A Closing Prayer
Oh Blessed Father, giver of all good
things, please forgive me for the times in which I forget to thank You.
When things are good, please help me to remember to still rely on You
and show the world that I still and will always need You, and in
Christ’s blessed name I pray.
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