Ambrose Brothers

Happy Days

Today’s Scripture: Ecclesiastes 7:11-14

Before we get started today, let me again encourage you to flip open your Bibles and read the complete passage of the day. We won’t be able to go in-depth with each verse, but each verse of God’s Word can be profitable to us.

OK, Maybe a slight stretch for the Happy Days Picture because were not really talking about "Happy Days" But being Joyful in the days of prosperity. However as I was getting ready for this post, I grabbed my NASB which uses the term happy in the days of prosperity. So let’s take a look now at Ecclesiastes 7:14:

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,
      But in the day of adversity consider:
      Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,
      So that man can find out nothing that will come after him

Or as we find in the New American Standard Bible (Happy Days):

14 In the day of prosperity be happy,
         But in the day of adversity consider--
         God has made the one as well as the other
         So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

We see here a couple teachings we don’t often talk about. First that it’s ok to be happy about our prosperity. We don’t have to go around feeling bad when things are good for us. We may think that’s crazy but its true, find someone in Christian circles who had blessed financially, and they will shrug it off, with comments like "Its never enough" or "I wish I could do more". Pause and think about it, how many "Happy" wealthy people have you met. There may be a lot of them out there, but I only know a few. Yet we see here, the "preacher" (Solomon not me) teaches us to be happy in our prosperity.

The second teaching we find, is probably more useful to people like me; that when trouble comes, remember, God has allowed that for us as well. We often like to blame these things on others, get angry, wonder why God isn’t blessing us. But just as sometimes God gives us prosperity, sometimes he will allows adversity to come into our lives. He does this so we will rely on Him, we will understand we need Him; we will not take Him for granted.

This second teaching is sometimes foreign to us, especially if you like to watch a certain smiley preacher on TV. But when you take to word of God as a whole, you realize that things won’t always be all "happy" and we won’t always have prosperity, sometimes we will face adversity, and it is important that we remain joyful even in those times for God in His perfect nature has allowed us to have both types of days. This thought reminds me of James 1:2 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials". Do we remain joyful in trials, do we trust in God’s will in the midst of adversity? Or do we sit around and pout and wait for the blessings to start flowing again.

As we close out these thoughts for today let me leave you with these thoughts from A.W. Tozer *"Now I submit that the whole hectic scramble after happiness is an evil as certainly as is the scramble after money or fame or success. How far wrong all this is will be discovered easily by the simple act of reading the New Testament through once with meditation. There the emphasis is not upon happiness - but upon holiness.   God is more concerned with the state of people's hearts than with the state of their feelings.  Undoubtedly the will of God brings final happiness to those who obey, but the most important matter is not how happy we are - but how holy."

Action Step:

1. Has God blessed you financially or in other ways, thank him and rejoice in that.

2. Has adversity come your way, praise the Lord, and find joy in that.

* A. W. Tozer's Of God And Men, "Holiness Before Happiness", Christian Publications, 1960, pp 43-46

As Good as it Gets

Have you ever heard the phrase; "as good as it gets". There was even a movie made with that same title a number of years ago. It brings to mind a thought; sure things aren’t perfect in my opinion. Yes there are still needs yes there is still suffering, but maybe this is as good as it gets, and we should find a measurement of happiness and joy in that.

This seems to be in part the point Solomon is getting at, as we close out Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verses 24-26. As a matter of fact Solomon has really panted us a rather bleak picture up to this point. Especially through the last few verses as he talks to the fact we spend our lives acquiring, yet we can’t take it with us. Yet as he finishes it off he lets us know, there is no problem in enjoying the good things life has to offer, as long as we do it in the right perspective. Verse 24 states "Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God."

It’s true apart from God that nothing we do here on earth has any meaning. Yet its also important to remember that God created this world for us, for our enjoyment, because he loved us. Our world has been corrupted, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying things if they fit with in the parameters god has given us. Philippians 4:8 tells us "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you".

I often think some Catholic Orders may have it wrong, as they spend there time trying to deny themselves each of life’s simple pleasures. Our God loves his people and from His hand, we get such gifts. It reminds me of the Israelite’s who were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. They were given houses they did not build, and vineyards they did not plant. God gave them good things to enjoy and asked only that they remained true to him. On the flip side of that we see the apostle Paul. The man had little to nothing as far as earthly treasures go. Yet he was still a man of joy as we see him praying and singing to the Lord (Acts 16:25), even in prison Paul was enjoying those gifts God had given him.

Today’s action point would be a simple one. Remember the words to that classic Sunday school song. "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it". Enjoy life. If you are laboring at work, rejoice that you have work. If you’re sick, be glad for the rest, maybe you’re stuck at home with sick children, be glad for your extra time with them. Find joy in those simple things of life and remember the words of Solomon "Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor".