USELESS (AND FOOLISH) CONTENTION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Whatever one is, he has been named already. For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.

Ecclesiastes 6:10 (NKJV)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day and so I found myself reflecting today on the matter of fatherhood.

That reflection of course began with my father, Bob, who passed a few years ago, a man who helped me become the man I am today. We had so many good times together and I feel so very blessed that he lived a long time that allowed us to have many years to share with one another.

I then thought about how I was given the opportunity to father two wonderful daughters, Stephanie and Danielle, who brought so much joy into my life and continue to do so in their adulthood. What a privilege it was and is to be their Dad. 

I also reflected on my son-in-law, Wallace, the father of my three grandchildren, Maddox, Graham, and Hadley. He has grown into being a good Dad for his little ones and Danielle is blessed to have him as a life partner. I continuously pray for them as they endure the challenges of life and parenting for I believe it’s harder today than it has ever been to raise a family.  

Finally, I meditated on the truth that none of this would be possible without God. There would be no concept of fatherhood if God hadn’t brought it into being. He is the Almighty Father of us all, the One who set all things in their place, the One who breathed life into all of creation. Thus, this Father’s Day, as it should be on every day, the Lord gets all the glory and honor and praise. Without Him, there would be no celebration of fathers or anything else for that matter.

This truth is one that cannot be contended. For God and God alone fashioned all things from His hands and thus rules and reigns over all things. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Everything is in submission and subordination unto Him.

With this, can you see where it is useless and even foolish to try and contend with God?

And yet, people try and do it every day. God has a will for each of us but we are too stubborn and insubordinate to allow it to be done most of the time. We want our ways, not God’s. We want to fulfill our desires instead of seeking and meeting His. We long to seek our own glory rather than give all credit for all things to the One who grants us the time, talent, and treasure to do all things. We compete with God instead of allowing Him to have every victory.

We do this although the truth is that we will never win. We will never be greater than the God who made us. Look at our scripture passage again for today. Man cannot contend with God who is mightier. Much mightier. Exceedingly mightier. In fact, the strongest man does not even come close to rivaling the power of God. It will be an absurd mismatch every time.

Friends, we would be better off living in submission to God our Father, never challenging Him in any way. For no contention with God is going to have a good outcome for the contender. God has been, is, and will always be the eternal Victor who triumphs over any and all adversaries.

The best place to be is on His side and His team. I know I am glad to be there and pray you are as well.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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