Note: Devotion taken from sermon on Ecclesiastes 7:11-18.
Consider the work of
God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? (Ecclesiastes
7:13).
This exhortation is a call to consider or to reflect upon
the providential works of God. And it is
a call, in particular, to look at the things which the Lord has allowed to
happen, which appear, from our perspective, to be “crooked,” misshapen, bent, or
evil. We are instructed to consider that
no man can ever change those things or make them straight (cf. Ecclesiastes
1:15a: “That which is crooked cannot be
made straight”). These "frowning" providences were allowed by God for our good. Turn again to
the words of Joseph in Genesis 50:20 and Paul in Romans 8:28.
Charles Bridges comments:
Yet there are many things crooked in man’s
eye, because they cross his will, and thwart his own imaginary happiness (p.
154).
When the whole work shall be complete—every
particle will seem to have fallen just into its own proper place. And all will
then appear One Great Whole every way worthy of God—the eternal manifestation
of his glory (Ecclesiastes, p. 155).
Again, we must begin a self-examination: Have I looked back
with bitterness at some of the “crooked”places or "frowning" providences in my
life? Have I doubted God’s perfect goodness toward me? Have I brought myself to
despair or distraction or frustration by thinking that human means might
straighten things out which God has made crooked? And instead might I not trust
his heart and his word that all has come about—even the crooked things—for his glory and the blessing of man?
JTR
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