“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:15 NIV
I was sitting on our deck in the back yard reading through one of my favorite books in the Bible, Ecclesiastes. I had done a Bible study a few years ago on the writings of King Solomon. In this study there was a nugget of truth that I have always carried with me since. Life is not fair, but instead of letting it get you down, live the life God has given you to the full. Maximize it! Enjoy what you do have even though it is little. Cherish the relationships that are in your life and always tell those you love as many times as you can how much you love them.
As I write this devotion, let say that my wife and I are having one of those, “Count your blessings” seasons. Lets go back to my deck in the back yard. As I sat there looking out over the pond that I could barley see through the darkness, I read this verse a few times. It reminded me of something God told me when I went through the study. I will never forget that when the teacher was explaining this verse, I heard in my heart, “You are going to need this someday,” When you here that, pay attention. Maybe today you are reading this devotion and it doesn’t seem extremely relevant to your life right now. Things are good, you are busy, and relationships are good. If that is the case, awesome! I am happy for you. But as Solomon says, life will have surprises and it is always good to have reminders from God and His Word to lean on when you need them.
This is what happened to me while sitting on the deck and reading this scripture. It reminded me of what I needed to do. It prompted me to change my countenance. It helped me to see life not from my trial, but from God’s point of view. When life gets hard or unfair it is then when we are to look around and see the blessings that we do have, the relationships that we enjoy and maximize to the full the things we can do to bring joy to our life.
While getting this adjustment from the Lord, my wife came out on the deck to check on me. We talked about my discovery and then I had a great idea. Go get ice cream! And.. lets load up our old dog Bandit of 15 years and get him a pup cup too. It was random, there was going to be a drive involved since we had to drive to another town, but the point was, we had an opportunity to make a memory, enjoy each other and Bandit was very happy too.
If you are going through a hard time right now, do not think that God just wants you to suck it up and get joy. No, He is not like that. But He will remind you of the blessings that you do have. When He does, count them, enjoy them, and go get some ice cream!