Pastor Eduardo preached today:
Be firm, even in tribulation!
Understand the importance of being firm even in tribulation
You need an answer from God. Do not despair, wait on the Lord, believe. He will act in due course. ” Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 " I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
"Son, if you enter the service of God, stand firm in justice and fear, and prepare your soul for judgment." God comes closer to us when we are more fragile, because the more we need him, the closer he comes to us. The painful days come for everyone, everyone experiences anguish and fear. And you, who knew Jesus, get ready.
God knows us, when pain "tightens", we rush and lose it before our eyes. These are days of darkness, days of pain. The Lord says: "My son, do not bother", although it seems that you are alone, He is with you. People may say that you are abandoned by Him, but do not listen to them. The temptation that wants you to turn against God and make you feel abandoned.
Don't listen to the devil
Job suffered horrors, his friends and even his wife asked him to leave God, but he stood firm. Everything happens. Your pain will pass. The difficulty will pass, do not listen to the devil, because in difficulty the Lord is also with you. "Do not bother in times of unhappiness, suffer God's delays; dedicate yourself to God, wait patiently, so that at the last moment your life will be enriched ”.
While waiting on the Lord, be faithful and “Accept what happens to you. In pain, remain firm; in humiliation, be patient. Because it is through fire that gold and silver are tested, and men who please God. ” Waiting is very difficult! It is to be tested; waiting on God is not easy.
Wait for God's time. Accept whatever happens to you. Take your suffering and present it to God, saying: Lord, I don't understand you, but I want to confront you with the Lord.
Give God what belongs to him, which is the first place. Trust Him, abandon yourself to Him. Our pain is healed with love, so let Him take care of you, it is not time to heal the wound, but it is love. God purifies us by healing us and heals us by purifying us.
In you, Lord, I sought refuge; never let me be humiliated. Rescue me and deliver me by your righteousness; incline your ear to me and save me. Psalm 71: 1,2
