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Arrogance invites Trouble
Who is like the Wise?

Ecclesiates Chapter 8

Contrasts – The Wise verses The Arrogance:

Contrast # 1
Arrogances says, “I don’t have to listen to you”
Wisdom says, “I will learn to live under authority”

Verse 5 – Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.

Contrast # 2
Arrogance says, “I’m in control”
Wisdom says, “There is something I can’t control”

Verse 7 – For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?

Thoughts to ponder:
We can’t control the future;
We have no power over the power of death;
Can’t control wickedness;
Arrogance invites disaster!

Contrast # 3
Arrogance says, “I can get away with it”
Wisdom says, “I fear God”

Verse 10 – Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.
Verse 11 – Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Those who fear God will do well!

Contrast # 4
Arrogance says, “I demand answers”
Wisdom says, “I Trust God”

There are mysteries of this life that we don’t understand, But, God can be trusted. God proved His love for us once and for all – He sent Jesus! John 3:16

Thoughts to ponder:
Quit demanding answers;
Let God be God and Trust Him;
Thrive under authority!

“The Weaver” by Grant Colfax Tular
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side.
Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.
‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

This Victory Call is from a sermon by my pastor recently.

In all honesty I can find myself being arrogant at times. I can do it; I can control it; etc.
But God is the one who controls the universe and He is surely worthy to be trusted.

As I grow in Christ it doesn’t take me long to realize “this is arrogant and it is not trusting God”!

Blessings,
Pat Spies
A servant of God and a friend of Keswick