“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” (Eccl. 7:14)
“In the days of prosperity be joyful.” The Hebrew word for “prosperity” is “tob” meaning GOOD, as in contradistinction to that which is evil, adverse. We praise the Lord when all goes well, pressures lessen, times of refreshing come our way. Our vision soars out into the expanses beyond, contemplating the vastness of His purpose of the ages, and ultimate victory in the hope set before us. There is the feeling of a surge of spiritual vitality, so that we could declare, “For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my god have I leaped over a wall.” (Ps. 18:29).
Then comes “in the day of adversity.” Suddenly conditions turn, going in a contrary direction, acting against us, with distress, when we are more limping than running, and crawling instead of climbing over the wall. It is then we are admonished to “CONSIDER.” Consider that God hath set the one over against the other. He soverignly controls the interplay of good and evil, prosperity and adversity. And all this, “to the end that man should find nothing after him.” Just about the time we get everything figured out, prosperity has broadened our vision and we think we know what direction it all is going, God veils it all over with times of adversity, when we follow on just one day at a time, not knowing what the morrow will bring forth.
It still remains that our challenge is for DAILY OVERCOMING! It is through the travail, as God sets the one over against the other, prosperity and adversity, with our actions and re-actions, which will bespeak the degree of our development, and how we qualify. “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Prov. 24:10). “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Dan. 11:32). With a positive attitude we shall day by day gain the victory.