Facing Adversity

Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14

In life there are things that seem to be unnecessary.

Gnats. I can’t discover a good reason for us to have them.

Never forget that one of the Ten Plagues put on Egypt was gnats! Those things are bad.

Adversity is like gnats. We wonder why it exists. We are convinced life would be better without it.

Nevertheless, aversity is here and will be for the Christian until we are with the Lord. If you’ll look closely you’ll see that Solomon takes us back to the birth of aversity in this world in 6:10-12. I want to point out a few things there by way of introduction.

The word “man” is used four times in 6:10-12. Man in Hebrew is “Adam”. It was the name of the first man. There are several references to the Adam in the Garden of Eden in these verses.

The naming of everything “Whatever has come to be has already been named”.

The recognition that God is stronger than man and man should not dispute with Him. We remember Adam and Eve hiding form the Lord after they sinned.

The foolishness of seeking what is good through our own wisdom. “For who knows what is good for man…”

The ignorance of man. “For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?”

Adam and Eve had no clue of the future they were creating for themselves and their offspring.

When Adam and Eve sinned adversity came into the world. The Lord told them:

The Lord told them because of their disobedience they would die. They began dying that day. The world began dying. Adversity was born and it has affected everyone on this earth since that day.

Everyone will face adversity. Learning to face it correctly is important. In our text we will see three lessons on facing adversity.

1. Acknowledge the reality of death (7:1-6).

A. The sorrow of death can lead to salvation (1-2).

Solomon says it’s better to got to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.

It’s better to go to a funeral than a party.

I sometimes joke that I would rather do a funeral than a wedding because I’ve never seen a funeral that didn’t stick.

Marriage is not taken seriously anymore, and weddings aren’t either. For the most part funerals are serious things.

Go to funerals. Funerals are a great reminder of where we are all headed.

Solomon says, “this is the end of all mankind and the living will take it to heart.”

This is why the gospel should be preached at funerals. Mankind needs to be reminded that death is not the end. We will die and we will stand before God.

The sooner we accept that we are going to die the sooner we will prepare for it. How do you prepare for your own funeral?

Paying for a plot?

Picking out a casket?

Purchasing an outfit?

Selecting a preacher?

Nothing wrong with that. But you prepare for your funeral by preparing your soul.

A good name is better than precious ointment!

There’s some bad people in this world who smell good. All the perfume in the world won’t make us smell good to God if we are not washed in the blood of the Lamb.

If you are saved the day of your death will be better than the day of your birth.

On the day you were born you left:

A dark place

A constricted place

A lonely place

It was a good day!

You were loved, pampered, blessed.

On the day you die you will leave:

A dark place

A constricted place

A lonely place

It will be an even better day because you will enter heaven. You will enter a place where there is no more curse.

Have you acknowledged that you will die?

Has the sorrow of death led you to salvation?

This is the first step in dealing with adversity. Get the worst part out of the way. Prepare your soul for your own funeral.

B. The sorrow of death can lead to sanctification (3).

Solomon says, “by sadness of face the heart is made glad.”

How does that work? The face is sad and the heart is glad?

How can sorrow be better than laughter?

I think what Solomon means is that times of sorrow, especially funerals, remind us of the most important thing in life:

Our faith- When a person you love who was a Christian dies, you will thank God for your faith. Your faith is the only hope you have at that point. At the funeral for every Christian we should say “Thank God for Jesus!”

God will use adversity to renew your faith. God has used tragic events to bring back those who have strayed and to deepen the walk of those who are walking with Him.

One of the most needed things to grow in your faith is humility. Nothing humbles us like the funeral of someone we love.

C. The sorrow of death reminds us of the foolishness of sin (4-6).

Solomon says the heart of the wise person is in the house of mourning.

The “house of mourning” symbolizes the place of sober reflection on the important things in life.

The heart of the fool is in the house of mirth. The house of mirth symbolizes the place of excess and worldly pleasure.

Fools live like life is one big party. Solomon says all their laughter is like briers being burned beneath a pot (6). When those briars are burning they are popping. They are making noise. Soon all the briars will burn up and everything will be quiet.

When I was young I was a rebel against God. I can remember on several occasions being at a house party where things were way out of control.

No one at the party cared about the noise.

No one at the party cared about the neighbors.

Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Then, all of a sudden the door flew open and here came the police.

The music shut down.

The laughter stopped.

The dancing stopped.

Here we went off to jail!

You can live life like it’s one big party with no regard for:

God

Life

Self

Neighbor

One day God is going to kick down the door.

One day God is going to shut the music off.

One day God is going to carry you away.

Now look at verse 5. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than the song of fools.

Many would rather hear a song than a sermon. No one wants to be rebuked. But it’s better to listen to what the wise are saying than to join in with what the fools are doing.

When we acknowledge early on that we are going to die one day, we can recognize the foolishness of sin.

2. Be patient (7-10).

A. Impatience can cause us to justify sin (7-8).

Verses 7-8 describe a politician whose impatience has led him to take a bribe to accomplish a political task. Instead of being patient and waiting on God they wanted to see results immediately so they sacrificed their character.

The guy in verse 7 had good intention. He saw oppression and wanted to do something about it. He was impatient. The situation drove him mad and he used a sinful means to accomplish his goal.

Listen folks, God is not going to lead you to do sinful things to accomplish His will. Be patient. Trust God.

Perhaps you are trying to get the money to pay a bill.

Perhaps you are trying to keep a relationship.

Perhaps you are trying to get a promotion.

Whatever adversity comes your way, sinful choices is not the way to deal with it. Be patient. Do the right thing and trust God. If you get in a hurry, you may justify sin and cause more problems for yourself.

B. Impatience can transform us into angry people (9).

Impatience and anger go hand in hand. When adversity comes, we want it to leave quickly. When it doesn’t our impatience may lead us to anger.

It’s natural to want adversity to leave quickly. Ultimately, we don’t control when it does. We’ve been spoiled.

When we don’t have our internet fixed immediately, we get upset with our provider

When we don’t get our drink filled up immediately, we get mad at our waitress.

When we don’t get our car fixed immediately, we get upset with the mechanic

When God doesn’t remove adversity from our life immediately, we get upset with Him.

Angry attitudes and thoughts should pass through your mind and heart. They shouldn’t lodge there. When anger lodges in your heart you become bitter. You become hateful.

I’ve had that happen before with my kids. I told them to clean their room or something like that. I came back later and nothing was done. I lost my patience and got upset with them. As parents we have all done that.

Sometimes we do that with God.

We tell Him we want Him to clean up the mess.

We explain we need the mess cleaned up right now.

A little time passes, and the mess is still there, and we lose it. We become angry. We say and do things that we are ashamed of.

C. Impatience can cause us to give up on the future (10).

The fellow in verse ten has given up on the future and just looks at the past.

Things were a lot better when….

When we are impatient, we believe God has quit working. We think every good thing He’s going to do He has already done. We give up on our future.

As a Christian you need to remember that your best days are always ahead of you. ALWAYS! Your life is going to be better than it is now. Far better!

Paul said to be with Christ is far better than to be on earth (Phil. 1:23). We are headed to heaven.

Whatever adversity you are going through is going to pass.

If you allow impatience to invade your life you won’t enjoy the life God has given you.

What God is doing now is for your future. Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:17:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

How foolish will we feel one day when we realize all we complained about was for our benefit and increase?

3. Seek God’s wisdom in prosperity and adversity (11-14).

A. We need God’s wisdom when life is great (10-12).

God is not for emergencies. He’s for everyday life.

Solomon says we need the wisdom of God if we have an inheritance. He says wisdom is like the protection that money brings. It helps to have money. Money enables you to obtain things you need to make life easier. Wisdom does the same thing but in a greater way. In fact, if you get an inheritance and don’t have wisdom you won’t have an inheritance for long!

There are people who don’t think you need God unless you are:

Broke

Sick

In jail

We all need the Lord. It’s the Lord’s wisdom that protects us from the evil in this world.

The truth is if you don’t have Jesus you don’t have anything.

A rich man without Jesus is poor.

A healthy man without Jesus is sick.

A free man without Jesus is imprisoned.

Some seem to think this way about the Lord:

“God, if You’ll get me out of this hole, I think I can make it!”

That’s not it. We need the Lord every day. Don’t stray from the Lord when your life is great.

In the same way that you spend money every day to keep yourself comfortable in life, we have to use the wisdom of God each to enjoy His benefits.

The old hymn writer said :

I need Thee every hour!

He said:

I need Thee ev'ry hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

B. We need to accept that there are things we cannot change (13).

What God makes crooked we cannot make straight.

One of the wisest things you’ll ever do is stop worrying about what you cannot change.

It is what it is. That’s great theology. When you I and accept that we can move on. But if we give God an ultimatum we are in trouble. If we say:

“God until you change this, I’m not moving a muscle”

We’re in trouble.

I will promise you that you are not more committed to your will than God is to His.

We can be stubborn.

We can pitch a fit.

We can resist.

God is going to have His way. That’s all there is to it.

Illustration: Sometimes I’ll be going through the creek and my trolling motor will hang up on a tree. I’ll be stuck. I can’t go anywhere. For some reason I’ll try. There are places in the creek I cannot get to until the water rises. When the water rises I can float right over that tree. The rising of the water is not in my hands. It is in God’s hands.

Sometimes you have to wait for the water to rise. We must be patient. We can’t try to plow through and get our way. It takes the wisdom of God to recognize this.

C. Adversity should cause us to consider the greatness of God (14).

He says in the day of prosperity be joyful!

In the day of adversity consider that God has made it as well.

God’s way are above ours. We don’t understand what the Lord is doing.

It may rain tomorrow or the sun may shine!

I might be healthy tomorrow or I might be sick!

The stock market may rise or fall tomorrow.

I don’t know. But God knows! We are forced to trust in Him.

There are a lot of days that I don’t know what God is doing in my life. I’d do things differently if it were up to me. I’m not in control. God is in control.

We have an old cat that don’t have a lot of sense.

Jennifer has to pick the ticks off of it one in a while. It doesn’t like that. It resists.

In the past it has gotten so sick I had to feed it Pedialyte through a syringe. It resisted. It didn’t like that.

That cat has experienced what it thought was adversity in its life. The truth is someone smarter and greater than it was doing something that would benefit it. The cat just doesn’t have the capacity to understand that.

God is far greater than us. Sometimes He seems to do things that hurt. Sometimes he puts us situations that aren’t comfortable. We don’t understand that what He is doing is for our benefit. We need to remember that He is far stronger and far wiser than we are.

When God is doing something in your life that you don’t understand instead of getting angry at Him stand in awe of Him. Trust that whatever He is doing will bless you in the end.

We should know this because we know the story of Christ.

He went to weddings, and He trusted the Father there.

He went to funerals, and He trusted the Father there.

He went to the cross, and He trusted the Father there.

In adversity:

Acknowledge the reality of death

Be patient

Seek the wisdom of God.