The Three Day Quotation Challenge: Day Two

This is day two of the Three Day Quotation Challenge. You can see part one, including all an explanation, and the rules: here.

Today’s quotation is my favourite verse from the Bible.

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this. God as made one as well as the other. Therefore no one can discover anything about their future. Ecclesiastes 7:14

This might seem like an odd verse to pick. After all, it’s basically saying saying that we can’t ever know what’s going to happen in our lives. It also looks like it blames God for everything bad that happens to us.

If you look deeper, however, it says a lot more than that. The first part reminds us to be happy when times are good. That’s really important as when you live with chronic disease it can be hard to keep focus of the positive sometimes.

When the next section says that God made one as well as the other, I believe the verse is simply saying that times cannot be all good all the time. Just because God is good, that doesn’t mean that he is guaranteeing us a perfect, happy life.

I like that because it’s not sugarcoating things. I know how very real life can be and I appreciate the truth that life can be hard. If this verse told me that life was all puppies and sunshine, and my experience was dramatically different from that, I’d be giving it some serious side eye.

The last sentence says that no one can discover their future. Living with chronic pain and illness has certainly taught me that!

I had a life planned out, then my illnesses changed things. We simply can’t know how our life will go.

So, this verse speaks to me. I appreciate the truth that it speaks and I like the reminder to be happy when times are good. That’s why I’ve picked it as my quotation today!