Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
so no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
– Ecclesiastes 8:2-17
Devotion
There are different types of people who have been put in authority over us. I had many coaches in high school who loved to scream and yell – most moms hated this, while many of the dads thought it was “good for us.” I also had some coaches who were gentle and soft-spoken. My teammates responded differently based on their personalities. The best teams were the ones who respected the authority of the coach and followed his instructions, whether they liked them or not. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus, you are living in the Kingdom of God and He is the coach. He is a loving, compassionate, wise King who loves His children and wants them to be on a winning team. There will be times when He asks you to do things that you may not want to do. He doesn’t yell and scream to get your attention, yet He isn’t a push over either. Will you choose to live under His authority?
The Big Question
Is there any authority in your life that you are having trouble submitting to? Why do you think this is? How can you choose humility today and respect their authority?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what you have learned.