BETTER IS PEACE!

BETTER IS PEACE!

          Kenny Rogers, in his country song The Gambler, advised that “you never count your money while you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.” I find myself on many occasions taking inventory of my circumstances and too often I fail to count properly. This morning I decided to check with Solomon who seems to be an expert in the matter. He comments on many things in this life and introduces each one with the words BETTER IS…

Eccl 4:6

6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

          We live in a grasping world and competition is fierce. Only two people prevail. One is the obvious winner of the race and the other has simply found peace. Of all the trophies a man may collect peace is the most prized. Solomon, of all men, would be able to speak to this issue.

Eccl 6:9

9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

         Solomon had accumulated power and wealth enough to cause envy to cease and boredom to move in and unpack her bags. He had hundreds of wives and that should have provided enough to make most of us blush. But it was peace that seemed to elude him and it was peace that he highly prized.

 

         Peace comes when we know that our pursuits are pure and our methods are honorable. None can accuse Jesus of anything but success whether he was feeding 5000 on a hillside or speaking with only one tortured woman at a well. Jesus was relational in His ministry. He touched lepers, hugged children and formed a spit ball to restore the blind. He was a hands-on guy. It is hard to look a crowd in the eye!

         Peace comes when one’s pace is slow enough to observe beauty. No music is sweeter than the timpani of thunder and the rain on a roof. No beauty is more lovely than the flowers when they grow. Solomon must have longed for his childhood when the pressures of the kingdom did not assault his ears and sully his view.

Eccl 4:13

13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

Dear Lord, regardless of my age, let me be like a little child. Let me carefully avoid becoming an old and foolish man who thinks he knows it all. Let me pursue peace and find it.  AMEN