I have called you friends. John 15:15.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 NKJV.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6.

I don’t know about you, but I am so tired. The worry for everything overwhelms at times and becomes too much. Unlike Solomon, I shy away from the complexities of trying to understand the motives of what drives us. Creator God – Father…Son…Spirit, understands and tells me to be still with Him. In our chapter, Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon continues…So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. All share a common destiny – the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. v. 1-2. Solomon goes on to determine everything is meaningless – our life, our days, our lot. When I am weary, Solomon’s words don’t help. I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all….The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. v. 11, 17-18.

My grandmother lived a very simple life. She loved. She loved family, friends, flowers, sewing, cooking and laughter. I think if she had spent time with Solomon she would have cooked a wonderful meal for him and he would have loved her rolls! I don’t remember grandmother ever talking about God but she showed me what love was. Love was caring. Love was joy. Love was loving without judging. I have called you friends…Jesus’s words to His disciples. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong…our race is to Jesus, our pioneer who went before us showing us what is good…When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; He brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid…The Lord is with me; He is my helper. Psalm 118:5-7. Solomon only saw death as an end, v. 5, 6, 10. Jesus, our pioneer, showed us there is more. In John 11:1-44, Jesus’s friend Lazarus had died. Jesus raised him to life. Not right after Lazarus had died, but four days after death, Jesus told him to come out from the tomb. Jesus’s words to Martha and to us? Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus knew we would all die a physical death just as He gave His physical life for us – the physical must end. He knew what awaited all who choose life with Him and He gave us a foretaste of that when He raised to life Lazarus in this physical life. Nothing is impossible for God. Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” It’s so hard at times to believe what our eyes cannot see. But the eyes of those outside the tomb saw…and Lazarus experienced the glory of God in Jesus! Give everything to God. He loves and cares for you. This life is not meaningless though it can be wearying. Let God infuse your life with real meaning in Him and be with Him!