Knowing God - Ecclesiastes 7:13

(from Pastor)

Consider the work of God;

who can make straight

what he has made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:13

 

On first glimpse, this verse appears to be backwards. Think about it ... we generally perceive God's way to be straight and our way as crooked. So how come -- in this verse -- God is the one who is making things crooked, and us who are trying to make things straight?

 

I pondered. I prayed. And it didn't take too long for my confusion to give way to understanding ... and confession. How many of us want the easy way (straight)? Cutting corners may make the path straight, but it rarely makes it much better in the end.

 

I believe that God turns the road (crooked) so that we stay alert -- alert to the wiles of the devil, alert to the temptations of the soul, alert to the seductions of the easy way, and alert to God and his better way.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who likes Mr. Frog's Wild Ride  

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This is the second place I have read this verse today.  It has been in and out of my thoughts today.  Have you ever crumbled a piece of aluminum foil or folded a straw many times? Then tried to flatten or straighten them back out? You can't. You can never get them to their original shape.  But, God can.  

Also - if you have ever gone mountain climbing or hiked with any elevation, the path is never straight!  There are switchbacks along the way.  With these you can see where you've been and where're you're going.  There are times when the switchbacks seem tedious.  You think that it would be much easier to just skip them and go straight to the top.  But the crooked switchbacks serve a purpose - they help you conserve energy for the journey, they allow you to really see the progress you've made (and yet show you how far you have to go), they allow for easy resting places, and yes, it may take longer.  

(and fyi - Mr Toad's Wild Ride was closed and replaced with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - but still a fun ride with twists and turns.)