We’ve been looking at the book of Ecclesiastes and learning a lot about the wisdom of Solomon. In Ecclesiastes 7:13-18, Solomon tells us that there are some things in our life that we won’t be able to straighten out. It’s these crooked parts
that we struggle to make straight, but we don’t have the power to do it.
What’s the one thing you wish God would straighten out in your life today?
1. God is the one who makes things crooked. (v13)
- No one can straighten out anything that God has made crooked.
- Crooked doesn’t mean morally wrong or evil, it means difficult.
- These things can cause us to question God’s goodness.
2. The crooked parts of your life are meant to straighten you out. (v14)
- They lead you to deeper faith and trust in Jesus.
- God wants you to experience Him on a deeper level.
- Some days are full of prosperity. On those days, praise God. Don’t become lazy or self-absorbed.
- Some days are full of adversity. On those days, consider the work of God and trust Him. Don’t give in to depression or despair.
- God is doing something good in your life even when things feel crooked.
3. Paul’s adversity (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
- To keep Paul from becoming arrogant because of all the good things God was doing through him, God gave him a “thorn in his flesh.”
- Paul begged God to take it away, but He didn’t.
- If all we experience is prosperity, it will lead us to become conceited.
- When you are weak you will feel God’s power stronger.
- Paul didn’t let this crooked part of his life defeat him. It led him to experience the depth of God’s love and grace.
We need to be able to say, “Your grace is sufficient for me, Lord. In this adversity your power is made perfect.”
We believe God can do it, but even if He does not, His grace is strong enough to get us through it.
We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
4. We live in an unfair world. (v15-18)
- We see righteous people suffer and unrighteous people succeed.
- Don’t be self-righteous or conceited.
- Anyone, righteous or wicked, can face adversity at any moment.
- Grab hold of God and He will bring you through any situation.
- To fear God means to revere Him; to recognize, in prosperity and in adversity, it’s God who we are trusting to bring us through it.
5. The hardest part is to see the work of God in all of our circumstances.
- The good times seem to make us ignore God and the bad times seem to make us angry at God.
- If you’re angry at God because of the bad times, consider the work of God in your life; how He has saved you and provided for you.
- Accept the crooked parts of life as necessary parts of our growth knowing one day God will straighten them out.
- Instead of trying to fix the situation, worship through it.
- Thank God in advance for straightening out the problem because you believe and know that He will.
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