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Ecclesiastes 8:1-15
“Facing Authority & Injustice in Life”
If you would now, please take out your Bibles and tum in them in the Old Testament to the Book of Ecclesiastes and chapter number 8. [We’re] Movin’ about three-quarters of our way through the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Those of you who are younger may not know it, but actor Errol Flynn was called Hollywood’s greatest swashbuckler. Those of you who are older know who Errol Flynn is. He was a star in the movies in the 1930’s and also in the 1940’s, and then also through the 1950’s. But for those of you who are younger and don’t know, Errol Flynn was the forerunner to actors like Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson in Hollywood. Errol Flynn played the role—well, a number of roles—he played the role of Captain Fabian. How about that for a name? Captain Fabian? In one of his movies [he played] Captain Blood, Robin Hood, George Armstrong Custer, and also Don Juan in one of his movies.
Errol Flynn was 6 foot 3, 180 lbs., incredibly handsome. He said the number one thing that was important to him in life—his number one love in life—was women. He was married three times. How many women he had affairs with only God knows…very, very famous for his womanizing. In fact, a little phrase developed during his career that went like this, “In like Flynn”, are you “In like Flynn?” It was because of his suave and gentlemanly manner. People would say, “Hey, you want to be ‘in like Flynn’?”
He, by the way, died at the age of 50 from a heart attack. Errol Flynn had it all. And if you go back and you read his biography, you’ll find out that he struggled a lot in his life. In fact, I read this, that he had a habit of decorating things with question marks. Isn’t that interesting? Question marks? He had question marks decorating his limo. He had question marks on his tailored shirts. He had question marks on his bathrobe. He had question marks throughout his home. And you know—you have to wonder—what was the question that he was wrestling with? Was it the question, “Is this all there is?” having gotten it all. Was it the question, “Are there real answers to life?” Question marks everywhere!
You know, I never knew Errol Flynn, but I do believe, because he raised questions, he is an individual who’d be drawn to the Book of Ecclesiastes…such an interesting book. Do you know that some people look at this Book of Ecclesiastes and they say this is just the ramblings of some humanistic skeptic. This is just a bunch of thoughts by some cynical pessimist. But as we’ve seen in our study, this is a whole lot more than that.
It is a confessional autobiography of a man who tried a lot of the things that the world says will deliver satisfaction and he found them to be empty. It’s an interesting book because he does not duck the difficult questions of life. In fact, he’s very honest. He recognizes that a lot of times life doesn’t really make sense. In fact, he admits that life is often unfair, that life is full of its share of inconsistencies and uncertainties and perplexities. This is a great book for those who live by faith, and for those who struggle with faith.
In fact, he attacks a lot of the common assumptions that we have in life. One of the common assumptions that he attacks is the common assumption that life should be reasonably easy, innately fair, and readily understandable. Especially when we’re young we operate by that assumption, that life will be reasonably easy and it will be innately fair and readily understandable. And Solomon goes: “It’s not so, it’s not so”. And he tackles it head-on.
Today we want to ask a question: he’s going to really raise this issue like this, “How do you respond to authority?” How do you respond to government, even when it’s over-demanding of you? How should you respond to that? How do you respond when there is injustice in the world that is beyond your control? That you see things that you can’t change. How do you respond to that? That’s what he wants to address in Ecclesiastes, chapter 8.
I’ve given the title to our time today, the message today, “Facing Authority and Injustice in Life” and we see that in chapter 8, verses I – 15. Let me give you the outline plan that we have for today. It’s a little longer than normal, but, first of all, we’re going to see in chapter 8 The Value of Wisdom in verse 1. Then we’re going to look at Wisdom and Authority, particularly when it’s talking about governmental type authority, in verses 2 – 9. And then he’s going to address the issue of Wisdom and Injustice in verses 10 -14.
Now he’s going to draw out of all of that two conclusions. Conclusion number 1 in verses 12 – 13 is that there is an Overriding Reality that we need to Remember; an overriding reality that we need to remember. And then conclusion number 2, which comes out of verse 15, is that there is an Essential Outlook that we need to Embrace. So that’s the plan, three parts: the Value of Wisdom, Wisdom and Authority, Wisdom and Injustice. Conclusion number 1: there’s an Overriding Reality that we need to Remember every day. And then, Conclusion number 2; there’s an Essential Outlook that we need to Embrace every single day. So that’s the plan. Shall we execute the plan? Anyone ready to execute the plan? Yeah! All right, let’s go.
Let’s begin by looking at the Value of Wisdom in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 1.
It says, “Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.” as it says in the New American Standard. Wisdom illumines a man. The New Living translation says, ”wisdom lights up a person’s face”. The NIV says, “it brightens a person’s face.” The idea is that when we have God’s wisdom and it infiltrates our life, it’s going to show on our face. When we have God’s wisdom and it infiltrates our life, it will breed in our life poise and confidence.
I can remember the days, even though I was younger, when I didn’t know anything about the wisdom of God and there was just this ‘unsettledness.’ But when you have it [God’s wisdom] and it infiltrates your life, it brings poise and confidence because you know what is right, and you know what God is about.
Keep your finger in Ecclesiastes 8. I want you to turn to the right a number of books to the Book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 12. This whole idea of this showing and illuminating our person comes up in Daniel 12 and verse 3. I want you to see what it says there. Says, “Those who have insight” in chapter 12 verse 3, ”will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” There’s just something about the truth of God that allows us to shine; it affects us.
Keeping your finger again in Ecclesiastes 8, I want you to turn the other direction to the Book of Numbers and chapter number 6. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, chapter 6 and at the end of chapter 6. By the way, this is a very well used benediction but notice what the prayer is here: “The Lord bless you”, Numbers 6:24, “and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.”
You see, men and women, that’s what this Book does. This book brings wisdom into our life, and when it comes into our life, it will show in our life. In fact, David, when you wrote Psalm 19, talks about what this Book can do in your life. In the later part of that Psalm he talks about how this Book instructs us. This Book makes us wise. This Book refreshes us. This Book brings joy in our life. That’s the Value of Wisdom. There’s a value to it.
Well, how does wisdom then relate to authority? Let’s look at Wisdom and Authority, which is in verses 2-9. Now whenever you’re talking about government—when you look at history, and the Bible was written many years ago even though it is a divine book and very, very relevant today—government varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time. And not only in history, but even right now in the world, right?
I mean, you start looking at authority in government and you look to Iraq and what was in Iraq, and that was very different than the government we have in the United States of America. It varies from place-to-place, ,and time-to-time. But invariably, when you talk about authority in government, invariably it will be asking us and calling us to do something that we find inconvenient or unpleasant or unjust. It doesn’t make any difference what the government is: it’s going to happen at one time or another, and the spectrum will be broad.
Take for example taxes in our culture. Most of us find the taxes, and the amount of taxes that we have to pay, beyond inconvenient and certainly unpleasant and really unjust. The government may call us to do other things. For example, like jury duty or I remember growing up we had the military draft and how I was in line to be drafted. And that wasn’t exactly a convenient thing for me, nor a pleasant thing to even think about because the Vietnam War was on at the time. I love what Will Rogers had to say about government. He said this, “We ought to be grateful we don’t get as much government as we’ve paid for.” Think about that one. Yeah. Who wants as much government as we’ve paid for?
But really what Solomon wants us to emphasize and understand here is that governmental authority comes from God. In fact, Romans 13 talks about that: All government authority comes from God and He raises up those who are in authority over us and He brings them down in His time. You can even read about God bringing down the rulers in Psalm 2.
Now here he is going to talk about—in these verses—the command of the king because that was the form of government that existed in that day. The king, the government, has authority to act and enforce. We need to remember that, right? Notice verse 3, He says, “Do not be in a hurry to leave him” (the king). “Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases” (that is, the king). Let me read you the New Living Translation of verse 3. It says this, “Don’t try to avoid doing your duty. Don’t take a stand with those who plot evil.”
The idea here as we relate in wisdom to authority, is that even though government may be flawed, even though it may be frustrating, even though it may be insensitive and even though it may be unjust, we need to be careful. We need to respond prudently and judiciously and thoughtfully. Why? Because in verse 4, since the word of the king is authoritative. Who will say to him, ”what are you doing here?” In other words, the government has power to respond with force.
I don’t know if you ever watch the television show “Cops” [TV show that has live video of policeman at work]. You know, [theme music] “bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do?” I like to watch that show and it just never ceases to amaze me the lack of wisdom on the part of people. You know, they’re told “Stop!” and they don’t stop. And then they’re wondering why a cop has their face in the gravel road, you know, getting on their back trying to get them handcuffed. It’s like, “Hello”. Don’t you know that the government has the power to respond to with force? And you just want to reach through the screen, you know, and shake them a little bit. Wake up! Respond with wisdom to authority. Notice what it says in verse 5. It says, “He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble.” He who responds to the authorities in the right way experiences no trouble.
Not too long ago, I saw a TV special looking back on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. You remember that? 1993. Kind of amazing how time flies. Remember David Koresh [Leader of cult that resisted the authorities] there? And a government basically just saying to him, “We want you to just turn over your weapons,” and they wouldn’t do it. And we know—without even getting into whose fault or whatever—we know what ended up happening. And yet I think about, “He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble.” You know, what a different outcome it would have been if they’d just set down their arms and surrendered themselves to the authorities. They didn’t do that, and trouble came.
Now, I want you to understand, I do not believe what Solomon is telling us is that we should, we should just sit back before a government authority and be passive and silent. I don’t think he is saying that. In verse 6, he talks about there is a proper time and a proper procedure. He’s not saying—I don’t believe—that we should submit to every whim of government even if it goes to the point of contradicting God’s Word. He’s not saying that. We see that in the Bible, where, remember in Daniel’s time how the decree went down there was to be no prayer except to Nebuchadnezzar? And Daniel said, “I’m still praying to God”. And he ends up being thrown where? Into the lion’s den, right?
You know, in the Book of Acts you see the authorities in Jerusalem and they tell Peter and John, “Now you need to stop preaching the gospel,” which is completely contradictory to the direction of Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And they said ”No, we’re not going to be able to do that.” And they ended up in prison. Now, they had to—because they were going to obey God first—receive the consequences of that. But he’s not saying here that we just submit to everything the authorities might say, but we just need to use wisdom when we relate to authority.
Let me give you a little principle when it comes to those in authority and that is this: change what you can change, what you can’t change submit to Him, to God. There’s a lot of things we can see even our own culture that might need to be changed. You change what you can change. What you can’t change through submit to Him. Or if it violates the Word of God, you follow the Word of God and then you take the consequences that come with it.
The truth really, when it comes to authority, is that God is in control. God is the One who’s in control. He’s always been in control. He always will be in control. Notice in verses 7 and 8, he says, “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death. There is no discharge in time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.” Basically, what he is saying is that evil men in the government, or in authority, ultimately are not in control. Wicked leaders may prevail for the short haul, but at death the bill comes due.
He says in verse 8, “no man has authority to restrain the wind.” Anyone here—I just want to see a show of hands—anyone here ever been personally successful in changing the direction of the wind? Just hold your hands up high so that I can see them this morning. Of course not! What a stupid thing. For me to go out and say, “Hey, the wind’s coming out of the south at 35 miles per hour, let me just go outside and let me just change that around to the north”. Well, no one can do that. No one is successful at that, so the NIV says, “So, in the same way, no one has power over the day of his death”, no one, including the people who are in authority.
I read about a story of an earthquake that happened in Turkey. And in this particular story, there was a roadwork crew. And this work crew had all of their wheelbarrows and their hoes and their picks. It was a pretty primitive road and with their shovels they were going down the road, repairing the road. And one of the guys had to go to the bathroom, so he leaves the road and he goes over to the side to relieve himself. Suddenly this earthquake hits and the road gives away fully and it swallows up the entire work crew, leaving the one guy standing over there. Who has authority, even over his own death? I mean, what’s the deal with that? What’s the deal with that? It’s just a reminder that no one has power over the day his death. And evil leaders will often forget this; that death is one thing that they cannot control, they can’t do it.
Tommy Nelson reminds us of the story of Ahab, King Ahab, in the Old Testament in the Book of 1st Kings. Now Ahab was one of the most evil of the Old Testament kings, and he married a Phoenician woman by the name of Jezebel. You might remember her. And it was Ahab who brought idolatry into Israel, and yet God didn’t seem to do anything about it.
Ahab authorized Jezebel to kill the prophets of God, and she did, and still God didn’t act. Then Ahab tried to kill Elijah and God shut the heavens for three and a half years of a drought, and Ahab still didn’t repent. Then Ahab lusted for the land of a man named Naboth, so Ahab had him killed and took over his land. Then Ahab went into a battle and had an alliance with king Jehoshaphat. And they decided to get together and fight the Syrians. And here’s what’s interesting: Micaiah the prophet prophesied that Ahab was going to die in the battle, but Ahab was so arrogant, so completely arrogant that he thought he could cheat death.
So here he got together with King Jehoshaphat…so you’ve got king Ahab and king Jehoshaphat and here’s Ahab’s plan: he says to Jehoshaphat, now, you dress like a king in the battle against the Syrians. And then, Ahab dressed in the common gear of a foot soldier. He thought he’d outsmarted God because you know they were always going to go for the king first. And the Bible tells us that as the battle began to rage, a Syrian took an arrow and fired it at random into the air. He was probably some scared, first-year Syrian soldier stuck in the back of the lines.
But he just let an arrow fly, and guess what? It hit Ahab exactly in the small, exposed joint of his armor. And Ahab told his men that he was wounded and they took him from the battle in his chariot. Before he really left the full battle area, he saw his army being destroyed. And that was the last thing he ever knew before he lost consciousness and he died in his chariot. And when they washed his blood out, the dogs came and licked it up.
And Tommy says, “Isn’t that incredible?” As Jonathan Edwards has said, ‘God holds evil men like little spiders over the fire. He will let them kick and thrash until He is tired of using them for His purposes and then He drops them into the flames.’ When God wanted Ahab out, he was dog food just like that. They think they’ve got control, but they really don’t have control over death. Everyone, Saddam Hussein included, everyone will answer to God one day.
We have looked at the Value of Wisdom. We said that wisdom, when you bring it into your life and allow it to infiltrate your life, will breed poise and confidence. It will show on your face. We’ve also looked at Wisdom and Authority. Thirdly, let’s look at Wisdom and Injustice in verses 10 to 14. And, basically, what he’s going to do is share with us some of his observations.
He says, “I’ve seen this“, verse 10. “I’ve seen the wicked buried, these wicked people who used to go in and out from the holy place and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus.” I think the New Living Translation catches the essence very well here. It says, “I have seen wicked men buried with honor and their evil is quickly overlooked.” And he says, this just doesn’t seem fair. In other words, there has been an evil person and he has died and he seems to be buried with honor. And people forget all of the bad stuff that he ever did. That just seems unjust to me.
He says, I have seen, verse 11, ”the sentence against an evil deed that is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.” He says, I have seen delayed justice, and all it does is encourage more injustice.
You know, I think about the stories that we maybe have read about, or seen, of juveniles who go through these multiple arrests, you know. They’re arrested, they’re arrested, they’re arrested, they’re arrested, they’re arrested, but because they’re juveniles they’re basically let go. And they begin to develop the attitude, ‘nothing’s going to happen.’ That delay of justice just encourages more injustice.
We see it in our culture where someone can be convicted of a crime, a significant crime, and yet there’s fifteen, twenty years of appeals that go on. You know, the Oklahoma City bombing, it’s now been eight years and we’re still trying to arrange for a state trial for Terry Nichols [one of the co-conspirators]. We even haven’t gotten to the trial yet. Eight years! What does that do? That undermines people’s confidence in the judicial system and it encourages more lawlessness. Amazing how that works.
Keep your finger again in Ecclesiastes 8. I want you to turn with me in the New Testament to the Book of Second Peter. It’s toward the end of the New Testament; hiding behind the Book of Hebrews if you find that. Second Peter chapter 3. The appearance of delayed justice seems to embolden people. And even in the last days this is true. In Second Peter 3:3 he says, “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts”, and they are going to say, “Where’s the promise of Jesus Christ’s coming? For ever since our ancestors fell asleep, everything continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
In other words, where’s this judgment thing you keep talking about? I mean nothing’s going on. People live; people die. I don’t see it. It hasn’t arrived on the scene yet. And they are guilty of misreading the delayed judgment of God. And he says in verses 6 and 7, he says—here’s what they miss: ”that the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water” (this is Noah’s flood). They missed the fact that there was judgment already that hit the world and that “the present heaven and earth”, verse 7, “by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
But notice, verse 9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise [to judge], as some count slowness, but He’s patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” (vs 10), “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth with its works will be burned up.”
Yeah, there’s delayed justice because His judgment hasn’t fallen, but there’s a reason for it, and that’s because God is longsuffering. Do you know that God’s longsuffering has two benefits? Two benefits. First of all, if His justice was immediate, we’d all be dead. I don’t know if you think about that, but if His justice was immediate, we’d all be dead. Just like Ananias and Sapphira. They lied. Boom! There they go. So, His longsuffering has one benefit and that is we’re not all dead yet.
But benefit number two is, His longsuffering allows some to repent. It allows some to repent. And you know what, God has granted to each one of us more breath than we deserve. We’re glad we don’t have more government than we pay for. We need to remember we’ve got more breath than we deserve to have. And the question for some of us this day is: Have we taken advantage of the opportunity God has given us to repent?
If you’ve never yet repented and trusted in Jesus Christ, are you really taking advantage of the opportunity? He’s given you a door. He’s given you a window. He’s longsuffering. But one day, He will judge.
Back in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, another thing he says that I have seen, verse 14, “There’s a futility which is done on the earth (as I’ve just observed things over my life) and that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked.” In other words, righteous men’s lives have consequences in them that we would’ve expected of the wicked. And “on the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous and I say this too is futility.”
This is just frustrating. This is unfair. Life is often unfair. And when we see things that are unfair, it’s a mistake to conclude since there’s an unfair thing, there must be no God. Or God must be impotent or He would do something about it. But it is an unfair thing.
That brings us to conclusion number one. Conclusion number one—and by the way, both of these conclusions will double today as action steps for us to take away from the message. This is what he wants you to carry away, what he wants me to carry away. Conclusion number one, in verses 12 to 13, as you look at Wisdom and Authority, Wisdom and Injustice is this: there’s an Overriding Reality to Remember, and we see it in 12 and 13. That overriding reality to remember is: It Will be Well for Those who Fear God; It Will not be Well for the Evil Man. You see, as we deal with all of this in life, as you go through life, we need to remember an overriding reality. And that overriding reality is it will be well for those who fear God and it will not be well for the evil man. In other words, what goes around will eventually come around.
Look at Ecclesiastes, over at chapter 3, verse 17. Solomon says, “I said to myself, ‘God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man, for a time for every matter and a time for every deed is there.” It’s going to come. It’s going to come.
Look in chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes, verse 14, the very last verse of the book, says, “God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or whether it is evil.” It’s going to happen. It’s a reality that we need to remember.
Just look about two books to the right at Isaiah chapter 3. Isaiah chapter 3 verse 10 says, “Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, for they will eat the fruit of their actions.” But, conversely, verse 11 of chapter 3, “Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with them. For what he deserves will be done to them.”
Jesus said the same thing in John chapter 5 verse 28,29 He says, there’s a time coming when some will be resurrected to a resurrection of life; there’s some who will be resurrected to a resurrection of judgment. And maybe even today, you are thinking in your mind—and if not today, it probably will happen next week—of someone who is in authority who is out of line. Maybe even today or next week you’re going to think about a situation where justice was way too slow.
Maybe right now you can think of some situation, or maybe it’ll be next week, when someone who is evil, someone who is wicked, appears that they are getting away with something. And the question is, do you remember, will you remember, that it will be well with those that fear God, and it will not be well with the evil man? See, that’s conclusion number one; an Overriding Reality that We are to Remember. It will be well with those that fear God. It will not be well with the evil man.
And then the second conclusion that he draws, which is our second action point coming away from this today, is this: there is an Essential Outlook that we are to Embrace. That is found in verse 15, and that is, we need to Choose to Enjoy Life Now. We need to choose to enjoy life now. Look at verse 15 of chapter 8. He says, “So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.” Enjoy!
Ecclesiastes 2, verse 24, “There’s nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This I have seen, it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him.” Chapter 5, verse 18, “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting, to eat and to drink and to enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him, for this is his reward.”
There is an Essential Outlook that We are to Embrace, even when we look at authority and even when we look at injustice. You know what is possible—and some people do this—is to become so frustrated with the big picture, to be so bent out of shape. I’ve known a number of these people over the years, they’ve even known Jesus Christ, and they’re so bent out of shape over the fact that they see government as being unfair; that injustice seems to reign; that they become absorbed in some kind of a frenzied search for ALL of the answers; to have all of the ”why?” And they start fretting and they start fuming and they’re not enjoying life. And you know what happens when you spend your time fretting and fuming? You miss the blessings of life!
You know what he’s saying here? He’s saying here—very, very clearly, I think—don’t be overcome by discouragement as you relate to the government and those in authority. Don’t be overcome with discouragement as you have to see injustice that seems to go on. Don’t resort to despair. Don’t become entangled with grumbling. Instead, enjoy life!
Guess who’s in charge of the world? It’s not me and it’s not you. It’s God. And the last time I checked, He’s a big boy. He seems to be able to handle it. It will be well with those who fear God. You know, “in the world”, Jesus said, “you will have tribulation”. But when we are anchored to His absolutes, when we know God, when we know Jesus Christ, it makes all the difference. Because I know where I came from because of Him. I know Who designed me. I know what the future holds. I know that I can have confidence that I am forgiven. I know that I will never be left alone. I can know the will of God. And that’s a wonderful thing.
See, when many things seem to just be upside down in the world, when life can, at times, be confusing and illogical, there’s an outlook that we are to embrace. And that is that we are to enjoy life. What’s that really mean? It means enjoy food. It means enjoy drink. It means enjoy your car. It means enjoy your home. It means enjoy your spouse. It means enjoy your family. It means enjoy your friends. It means slow it down and savor it a little bit.
It’s kind of amazing with the lifestyle we lead. I just began to observe myself and others around me; how quickly they ate food. It’s amazing: Foop. Foop. Foop. [sound of gobbling food]. Savor it just a little bit. Relish it a little bit. Delight in it a little bit. Enjoy it, is what he is saying. God gives you permission. In fact, it’s a mark of wisdom that you enjoy life.
Let’s pray together. Father, we want to thank you again for the Living Book. The Word that teaches us how we are to live and relate in this universe in which we live. And Father, we would pray that we would be men and women of wisdom. That, that reality would be one that we would remember. That it will be well for those who fear God.
And if we have any in our midst who’ve never turned to Christ, repented of their sin, trusted in Him, may they realize that’s the only way they can ever experience that phrase, “it is well”. it will not be well with those that do not know Christ.
And then, that outlook that we need to embrace, oh just put our arms around it. And that is to choose to enjoy life now. Father, we would pray in the short days that we have on this planet, that we could just learn to enjoy the everyday things as You give us permission to do. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.”