Steve Webb 0:00 You really do have to just come to grips with that reality. Steve Webb 0:05 This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California. And podcasting since 2004, I'm Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster. It's Poetry Thursday and our reading today is Ecclesiastes 7 and 8. The website is lifespringmedia.com and contact information will be at the end of the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you again for our time together today and we pray that you would bless us as we read. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. All right, Beloved, are you ready to begin? Let's go. Steve Webb 0:41 Ecclesiastes, chapter 7. A good reputation at the time of death is better than loving care at the time of birth. It's better to go to a funeral than to attend a feast; funerals remind us that we all must die. Choose sorrow over laughter because a sad face may hide a happy heart. A sensible person mourns, but fools always laugh. Correction from someone wise is better by far than praise from fools. Foolish laughter is stupid. It sounds like thorns crackling in a fire. Corruption makes fools of sensible people, and bribes can ruin you. Something completed is better than something just begun; patience is better than too much pride. Only fools get angry quickly and hold a grudge. It isn't wise to ask, “Why is everything worse than it used to be?” Having wisdom is better than an inheritance. Wisdom will protect you just like money; knowledge with good sense will lead you to life. Think of what God has done! If God makes something crooked, can you make it straight? When times are good, you should be cheerful; when times are bad, think about what it means. God makes them both to keep us from knowing what will happen next. I have seen everything during this senseless life of mine. I have seen good citizens die for doing the right thing, while criminals live and prosper. So don't destroy yourself by being too good or acting too smart! Don't die before your time by being too evil or acting like a fool. Keep to the middle of the road. You can do this if you truly respect God. Wisdom will make you stronger than the ten most powerful leaders in your city. No one in this world always does right. Don't listen to everything that everyone says, or you might hear your servant cursing you. Haven't you cursed many others? I told myself that I would be smart and try to understand all this, but it was too much for me. The truth is beyond us. It's far too deep. So I decided to learn everything I could and become wise enough to discover what life is all about. At the same time, I wanted to understand why it's stupid and senseless to be an evil fool. Here is what I discovered: A bad woman is worse than death. She is a trap, reaching out with body and soul to catch you. But if you obey God, you can escape. If you don't obey, you are done for. With all my wisdom I have tried to find out how everything fits together, but so far I have not been able to. I do know there is one good man in a thousand, but never have I found a good woman. I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds. Steve Webb 3:36 Ecclesiastes, chapter 8. Who is smart enough to explain everything? Wisdom makes you cheerful and gives you a smile. If you promised God that you would be loyal to the king, I advise you to keep that promise. Don't quickly oppose the king or argue when he has already made up his mind. The king's word is law. No one can ask him, “Why are you doing this?” If you obey the king, you will stay out of trouble. So be wise and learn what to do and when to do it. Life is hard, but there is a time and a place for everything, though no one can tell the future. We cannot control the wind or determine the day of our death. There is no escape in time of war, and no one can hide behind evil. I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another? I saw the wicked buried with honor, but God's people had to leave the holy city and were forgotten. None of this makes sense. When we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished, it makes us want to start a life of crime. They commit hundreds of crimes and live a long time, in spite of the saying: Everyone who lives right and respects God will prosper, but no one who sins and rejects God will prosper or live very long. There is something else that doesn't make sense to me. Good citizens are treated as criminals, while criminals are honored as though they were good citizens. So I think we should get as much out of life as we possibly can. There is nothing better than to enjoy our food and drink and have a good time. Then we can make it through this troublesome life that God has given us here on earth. Day and night I went without sleep, trying to understand what goes on in this world. I saw everything God does, and I realized no one can really understand what happens. We may be very wise, but no matter how much we try or how much we claim to know, we cannot understand it all. Steve Webb 5:40 Well, Beloved, I think that what we can take from Solomon's teaching here in Ecclesiastes is that wisdom, money, power, and everything else that man strives for does not bring happiness or understanding or peace. Solomon had it all. But at the end of his life, he realized that what God does is far beyond man's understanding. Notice that not once has he accused God of being unjust or unfair. He has said that some of the things he has seen are unfair, but he chalks that up to just what happens in this life. And he admits in the last two verses of today's reading, that we just cannot understand it. Some things we just need to leave in the hands of God. Now, our human heart doesn't easily find that conclusion to be very satisfying. But if you don't want to drive yourself crazy, trying to figure out what is impossible for our puny finite minds to grasp, then you really do have to just come to grips with that reality. We can't understand the things that God does. We need to trust that God truly does love us, and he does. We need to trust that God truly is holy, and he is. We need to trust that God is just, and he is. We need to trust that on the last day, God will set everything right, and he will. Well, what are your thoughts? I'd love to hear. Do you have a question? Let me know. Let me hear from you. Send a boostagram, or call the Lifespring Family Hotline, or go to the comments page, or write an email. All the details on how to do that are at the end of the show in just a few moments. Tomorrow will be Prophecy Friday, and we'll read the first half of the book of Zechariah. We'll read chapters 1 through 7. Announcer 7:26 Boost. Steve Webb 7:27 A 500 sat boost came in from Fountain user number 8328 on yesterday's episode. No message just the boost. Thanks, 8328. God bless you. Jingle 7:38 Lifespringmedia.com/support Steve Webb 7:44 Our next time to pray together here on the show as a family will be this coming Sunday. So if you have a praise or a prayer request, do let me know. I'll tell you how to do that in just a moment. Steve Webb 8:03 This is where I tell you how to reach me. The best way is with a boostagram using a modern podcast app from podcastapps.com. The next best way is to call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511. You can also do this: for prayer requests and praise reports go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. You'll find a form there, easy and quick to fill out. And if you would like to remain anonymous, you can let me know on that form. For comments or questions go to comment.lifespringmedia.com. And if you'd like to send an email to me, you can do that at steve@lifespringmedia.com. Any of those methods will work. Just pick one and talk to me. Steve Webb 8:51 This is where I thank Sister Denise and Michael Haner, Scott Snider, and Jason Paschall (Jason did today's show art. Thank you, Jason) and Sister Brittaney for their generous donations of both time and talent. Thank you to the sat streamers and boosters I appreciate you so very much. And thank you, Beloved, for inviting me to join you today. Lord willing, I'll be back with another episode tomorrow. Until then, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. Announcer 9:20 The Lifespring! Media family of programs are made possible by the generous support of listeners like you. Thank you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai