Extremes

As I sit here today recognizing that life, overall, is good, I was trying to remember other good times in my life. I found that for me it is easier to remember the bad times. For one thing, I journal when times are bad and not so much when times are good. That’s been the pattern in my life. However, from reading Ecclesiastes 7:13-18 in my Quiet Time this morning, I need to take the good with the bad. In the NIV the passage says:

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:

God has made the one

            as well as the other.

Therefore, a man cannot discover

            anything about his future.

In this meaningless life of mine I have

Seen both of these:

            a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,

            and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Do not be overrighteous,

            neither be overwise –

            why destroy yourself?

Do not be overwicked,

            and do not be a fool –

            why die before your time?

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.

            The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

Basically, this passage says a couple of things to me. First, it says that both good and bad times come from the Lord. When things are going well, we need to fully be in the moment and cherish those good times in our memories. However, the passage also says that God has made those times, too. Both situations that bring happiness and sadness to our lives are part of God’s plans for our lives. I might go as far as to say we should be just as joyful (if not happy) for the sad times as we are in the good times. God is present in both.

This passage also talks to me about moderation in all things. Righteous people may die young in their righteousness, and wicked people may live a long life even as they remain wicked. The passage says that we should not allow ourselves to become obsessed with being the most righteous person on the earth or seeking incredible knowledge. This attempt to control every situation in our lives through our own righteousness or wisdom leads to a great amount of stress. This stress may be the cause of destroying ourselves.

However, the passage also encourages to not be overly wicked because that is just plain ole foolishness. I’ve known some foolish people who, because of their foolish actions, have died at young ages. Wickedness and foolishness in the extremes can lead to life threatening situations and lead us to die before our time.

The failure on our part to live in moderation (not too righteous or too wicked, not too wise or too foolish) can have disastrous outcomes in our lives. We should take God’s warning in Ecclesiastes to heart: “The man who fears God will avoid all extremes,” and learn to be satisfied in the good times and the bad.