FRIDAY: WHAT’S IT ALL FOR?

Oct 21, 2022
2 min read

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun: there is one alone, without companion: He has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, “For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?” This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

When I’m alone, I have no one to help me enjoy life. There seems to be no end to all my labors because I’m laboring alone. There is no satisfaction with riches, for I have no one to spend them on. When I’m toiling alone, I deprive myself of good. If I fall, there is no one to help me up.

Two are better than one, because the reward for their labor is the fellowship they enjoy. If one falls, the other lifts him up. When one comes who overpowers, two can withstand him.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

It’s not about who I want to go through life with; it’s who God has chosen for me to lift me up. It may be a son or a brother, it may be a wife or a mother. Whoever it is, a companion to lean on and rely on in my time of need, I know the Lord has sent them to help me through the journey of life.

Who is the one God has chosen? They may be right in front of me, or they may have yet to walk through the door. My life is not about God making me happy; it is about God making me holy. The Lord will send someone to sharpen me, to guide me and to help me walk closer with Him.

A threefold cord is not quickly broken. When someone is walking beside me, I’m also walking beside someone. When I search for the person who needs my help, then I’ll know that I am the one God is using to lift up someone else. The third cord in the strand is the Lord, who lifts both of us up to Himself.

Lord, thank You for all the people You have sent into my life for me to help. Help me to be the one lifting them up, while they in turn lift me up, and You lift us both to Yourself. Amen.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman