“—I hated life—” –Ecclesiastes 2:17 You might expect to hear those words from someone who is down and out, someone who has been neglected, abused, or tortured. But these words came from the lips of a man who seemingly had it all. No one was richer, wiser, or more powerful than Solomon. From a worldly point of view, he was a success in every sense of the word. But he was miserable.   Now, if that could happen to him, it can happen to the person who has suffered some horrible injustice. That someone might even be you. Lots of people wish the world was different. Why not? That would be nice. But it isn’t. Planet earth is a difficult place to live and it is easy to get discouraged. It might surprise you, but God isn’t all that pleased with the conditions on earth.”God is angry with the wicked every day.”(Psalm 7:11). Why not? You can’t even begin to understand how God has suffered because of the sinfulness of the world. Yet He did not give up on it. You better be glad He didn’t!   As bad as the world is God loves it to such an extent that He gave His only begotten Son for it. There’s nothing selfish about God. There shouldn’t be anything selfish about us either. God doesn’t want us to get bitter and give up on life. He has great things in store for those who don’t.   We live in the midst of people who will die and spend eternity in hell unless they hear the gospel. It is our job to tell them. It is pure selfishness to give up on life. Don’t allow your problems to deter you from God’s plan for your life. Give yourself fully to the pursuit of your God given purpose and you will no longer hate life. You will find a peace and satisfaction you never thought was possible. Love life—it is a gift from God!

“—ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good—“. Genesis 50:20   John Henry Jowett wrote,”In one of my garden books there is a chapter with a very interesting heading, ‘Flowers that Grow in the Gloom.’ It deals with those patches in a garden which never catch the sunlight. And my guide tells me the sort of flowers which are not afraid of these dingy corners—may rather like them and flourish in them.”   I know something better than that. My guide, the Bible, tells me that it is possible for us to bloom in the gloom. Examples of this are many. There is Joseph in Egypt, Job on the ash heap, Daniel in Babylon, Paul in prison, and many more. History is replete with examples of those who displayed great character in the shade of dark and dreadful circumstances. Why should I think it can’t happen with me? Do not I serve the same God?   There is hope for you also. Every child of God has the potential to bloom in the gloom. God can take the worst thing imaginable and use it for some glorious good. Don’t believe it? Just look to Calvary.

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”–Proverbs 11:2 The late Adrian Rogers once told a story that humorously shows the serious effects pride can have on a person. He told of a man who walked into a friend’s home, bruised and bleeding. When asked what had happened, the injured friend replied, “Well, I was walking down the street and was mugged by two thugs who wanted all of my money. I didn’t want to give it to them, so I fought them and fought them and fought them!” His friend then asked how much money he had on him when he was attacked. “Thirty-five cents,” he answered. “You fought for 35 cents?” his friend exclaimed. “Yes,” the wounded man answered. “I didn’t want to reveal my financial situation.”

We can laugh at this character’s irrational behavior, but how many times have we said or done something in an effort to conceal our true spiritual condition, financial state, or marital health?

The Bible tells us that “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23). A moment of humility will gain more respect than a lifetime of pride. Begin to live a humble life, moment by moment. (from Turning Point)

Satan’s number one weapon is pride. God’s number one defense is humility.
Larry Burkett

Let no one think of happiness as nothing more than a desirable quality, a mere ornamental grace, which is winsome-but is not an essential element in a Christian life, something which one may have or may not have, as it chances. Happiness is a duty, quite as much a duty as truthfulness, honesty, or good temper. There are many Scripture words which exhort us to rejoice.—–

But how are we to get this habit of happiness into our life? The answer is very simple–

The secret of Christian joy-is the peace of Christ in the heart. Then one is not dependent on circumstances or conditions. Paul said he had learned in whatever state he was, therein to be content. That is, he had formed the habit of happiness and had mastered the lesson so well, that in no state or condition, whatever its discomforts were, was he discontented. We well know, that his circumstances were not always congenial or easy. But he sang songs in his prison with just as cheerful a heart and voice as when he was enjoying the hospitality of some loving friend. His mood was always one of cheer, not only when things went well-but when things went adversely. He was just as songful on his hard days-as on his comfortable days.

Then Paul gives us the secret of his abiding gladness, in the word he uses-“content.” It means self-sufficed. He was self sufficed-that is, he carried in his own heart the springs of his own happiness. When he found himself in any place, he was not dependent on the resources of the place for his comfort. The circumstance might be most uncongenial. There might be hardship, suffering, poverty; but in himself he had the peace of Christ, and this sustained him so that he was content.

There is no other unfailing secret of happiness. Too many people are dependent upon external conditions-the house they live in, the people they are with, their food, their companions, the weather, their state of health, the comforts or discomforts of their circumstances. But if we carry with us such resources that things outside us cannot make us unhappy, however uncongenial they may be-then we have learned Paul’s secret of contentment, which is the Christian’s true secret of a happy life.(By J. R. Miller, 1898)

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”–Ephesians 5:16  An article in “Senior Living” presented this scenario:

” Imagine if you were to check your bank account one morning only to find a direct deposit for $86,400. And it goes on for weeks!

Each morning you find a new deposit for this amount…but soon realize that your balance is not carried over to the next day. Instead, it is deleted each evening and the next morning you begin again with a new balance of $86,400.

What would you do when you finally realized your account balance would be deleted each evening if you didn’t use it all that day? Of course…you’d withdraw the balance left over each day!

You and I have such a bank account called time. Each day we are credited with 86,400 seconds. And every night that which we have not used is deleted from our account. However, our time accounts do not allow overdrafts, loans, or savings options.

We must invest our time wisely in this life.”

Good point! My cell phone plan has what they call “Roll-over minutes”, where my unused minutes are carried over to the next month, but life isn’t like that. There are no roll-over minutes in life. You use it or you lose it. You can’t add a second to the time you’ve been alloted for today. That should motivate us to use our time wisely. Don’t misunderstand—I’m not a time management nut. I believe you can use time wisely by taking a nap or by playing catch with your kid, etc. But, you have to admit we do waste a lot of time on things that are frivolous–silly stuff that doesn’t really matter. Our time is short. We should make every minute count. We should determine to use our time in the best way we can for God’s glory and the good of others.

“Live as though every day were your last–and someday you will be right.”