WEDNESDAY: LEARNING LIFE LESSONS

Oct 26, 2022
2 min read

Lord, today I feel like I’m learning life lessons. Please help me to learn from my experiences how to trust in You more!

Ecclesiastes 7:10-14

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. 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.

I’m always prone to comparing anything I do with how it was done yesterday. Remember the good old days? Even the phrase implies that things were better in those days than they are now.

What is more important is what I learned in those good old days. The things that I learned came from experiences, and those experiences are different for every person. Collectively, those experiences God brought me through have given me wisdom.

An inheritance is given from what has been earned in the past; likewise, wisdom is given from what has been learned in the past. God has taught me many valuable lessons, and I will only have wisdom if I learn from those life lessons. Like a shelter, I will be preserved from the elements. Likewise, wisdom will preserve my life if I have it.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS: If I don’t heed the wisdom of God, I will travel down a crooked path. No one can straighten a path that lays behind him, and God only knows the path that is ahead. Since God determines my journey, I need to be prepared for whatever He has ready for me. When He prepares good times, I will be happy. But I can’t expect every day to be good; I will have bad days.

Psalm 112:7 states, “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.” The thing I dislike most about bad news is that I’m afraid it will come. From the passage, however, I learn that I don’t have to be afraid: I know it will come. If my heart is steadfast, trusting that the Lord is in control, then I will be prepared to face bad news, and rejoice that God is still in control!

Lord, please help me learn from my past and gain wisdom; allow my heart to be steadfast and trust in You, so when bad news comes, I am prepared.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman