Recently someone gave me an article entitled “Every Day’s a Bad Day; How Ecclesiastes Taught Me to Enjoy Life” by Carolyn Mahaney. The author talks about the challenges we face living in a sinful world and claims that understanding the wisdom of the OT book rescued her from disillusionment, bitterness, bewilderment, and from being disheartened by sin in the world. This article had some good advice in it and was correct on some points. The article says that we get disillusioned when labors we thought were going to be fruitful end up not be so; that we become bitter when friends turn on us; that we become disheartened and bewildered when we hear bad news or our thwarted in accomplishing some desired outcome. It says that we don’t want to believe that life is an unhappy business. All of this is true. Denial is a powerful deception that flows from our sinful hearts. We do tend to want to overcome the circumstances in our lives, some of which by the way God may have placed there for a purpose, and also some which can’t be overcome.
The article correctly pointed out that the cause of hardship and suffering in our world is the fall into sin. But the author is wrong when she says in her article that “Bad Days are Normal” and that God made it this way. In speaking to this false belief, the Bible says,
The Word of God is clear in telling us that God is not the author of sin or evil. God takes evil and uses it for our good but He does not create it and inflict us with it.
-When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;.. -James 1:13
– For God is not a God of disorder (in worship) but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. –1 Corinthians 14:33
– God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. -Genesis 1:31
These verses and many more make it clear that evil or bad things do not come from God. God created everything in the beginning and it was good. It was mankind that brought sin and bad days on us. God did not make bad days and bad days are not normal (when compared to the Garden of Eden before the fall). Yes, they are “common” today in our sinful world but “normal” is a word which best describes our world before sin and the fall. But God is not the author of evil and He promises to deliver us from it. We hear this in our Lord Jesus prayer when He says, “deliver us from evil” and in other places also. God’s Word tells us in the book of James;
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. –James 1:16-17
The Psalmist says; “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” -Psalm 50:15
Jesus, when speaking to His disciples, says; these things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33
The best gift that came down from above was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He delivered us from evil by dying on the cross for our sins, and He invites us to call upon Him in prayer and trust Him for our forgiveness and eternal life. He has overcome the sin in the World by living the righteous life we couldn’t, in our place, and by triumphing over our biggest enemies, Satan, sin and death; as evidenced in the empty tomb on Easter Sunday because Jesus Rose from the dead!