“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” Ecclesiastes 7:14

Let’s talk about bad days because we all have them.  Bad days are like clouds that block out the sun.  When they move in, they overshadow the beauty around them.  If they hang around long enough, the dreariness accompanying them can settle in your surroundings, obscuring your view, and warping your perspective.

People tend to shift their perspectives based on experience.  Experience can be subjective due to knowledge and/or feelings.  In all, it is easy for one to think or feel a certain way regardless of what the actual fact says.

Here’s what is true for the Christian, if the Bible says something, then that’s a fact.  With that as our springboard, let’s unpack Ecclesiastes 7:14 to gain a better understanding of whatever kind of day, the season of life, or challenges you may be facing.

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.”  Know this, we will have both good days and bad days.  Yet, we are always surprised when our good days are interrupted by the bad.  Part of that comes with the shock and awe of the adverse moment.  And it’s not as if we are totally divorcing ourselves from all the feelings we feel when facing difficulties, but we are also to realize that this is a part of life.  Peter writes, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12).  Some days, hard stuff will happen, if for no other reason than we are living.  We are alive.  In that, our experiences in the ups and downs of life may vary from day to day.

Ecclesiastes tells how to handle those variances: in the good days, when everything is fine and prosperous, going your way – rejoice.  Be “joyful!”  Be thankful for those moments.  Live with an appreciative heart in gratitude for them.

And in the bad, when things don’t look so rosy – those days you want to hide from the world, he says to “consider.”  There are fewer things in life that will slow you down and give you a long pause to reflect, like adversity.  It provides a place to mull over some things and to deeply think about this life and the many facets it brings.

The word consider is used in a specific way in this verse that I will deal with in more depth when we get to the next section.  But to know for a fact that both experiences of good days and bad days are just a part of our human living, can be almost liberating.  In that, it allows us to prepare our hearts and our responses in how we want to act for either/or during those times, even if we sometimes do it imperfectly. 

“God also hath set the one over against the other.”  God is sovereign over any and all days.  One of the things we like to say is that a situation may have taken us by surprise, but it sure didn’t take God by surprise.  And that’s so true!  I can write a book on the verses of Him ordering the days, and times, and seasons – oh wait, they already did that.  It’s called the Bible, and in it, we see from the first page to the last, God’s sovereign hand moving.  In the middle, there are a lot of lives, with a lot of stories – some good, and some not so good.  But our God, who Ecclesiastes 7:14 assures us regarding these differences of days, “hath set the one over against the other.”

Our God, who is the Creator of the world, is the Creator of our days.  And even when the days don’t look right or feel right to us, we have this promise: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Did you see what I saw in that verse?  Even if it doesn’t appear good to us, God is able to make something good out of that experience.  It doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good, but whatever happens, God can use it for good.

“To the end that man should find nothing after him.”  You never know what’s ahead, so strive to thrive in all seasons and days you experience.  Life is a gift, and while we may not like some of the things and days we face, and we may wish they were all full of joy and celebrating, we can remain in hope in our God who has never failed.

The children of Israel experienced many days of a time of prolonged captivity under the rule of their enemy when they thought it would never get better.  Because of what they were experiencing, some struggled with the picture of their future God provided through the prophet Jeremiah when he said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). 

My friends, when the days are good, we claim to see the hand of the Lord moving in all kinds of ways in our lives.  But when approached by the bad, we fail to realize He’s still there, and no matter what we are facing, good or bad, our reliance, dependence, and hope are securely anchored in God alone and in what He can do and has done for us – not in ourselves, our present circumstances, or experiences. 

And while we may struggle to see the end, our trust is to always be in the God who knows the end.

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