Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?
(Ecclesiastes 7:13)

There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.
(Ecclesiastes 7:20)

1. Let sorrow be a teacher. (7:1-14)

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.
(Ecclesiastes 7:2)

2. Be neither unrighteous nor self-righteous. (7:15-29)

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?
(Ecclesiastes 7:16-17)

3. Justice doesn’t always win here. (Chapter 8)

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before him.
(Ecclesiastes 8:12)

4. Prepare for the unfair. (9:11-17)

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.
(Ecclesiastes 9:11)

5. Small folly, not big failures, ruin a life. (Chapter 10)

Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
(Ecclesiastes 10:1)

Reflection Question: Where do you need to look to God’s wisdom for navigating life in an imperfect world?