Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. – Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

Dear heavenly Father,

I wish I had back all the energy I’ve spent straining to know what would happen next in my life. I worry about many things that never happen and daydream about other things that I cannot make happen. I live in a culture that chats constantly about self-actualization and leadership and making things happen. But I see you swoop into our self-made visions for our lives and visit us with unchangeable burdens like cancer, birth defects and car wrecks. The optimistic humanists have little to say to me about my disappointments and unchangeable challenges. That’s why I would rather sit quietly at the feet of your truth even if it tells me that you’ve sent bad times as well as good to have your own impact on my life. I know your Son and his love, so I will not equate bad times with punishment from your hand. I will view it as discipline to bring my soul to higher ground. Oh, God, help me accept that you are God and that you will bring my life to a blessed end no matter what my present unchangeable problems may be.

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

The height of foolishness is to live as though everything depends on you.