Every biblical counselor is well acquainted with 2 Timothy 3:16. This verse teaches the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word. The Word is given to us by God to train and equip us for good works. What are those good works? As counselors seeking to minister His Word to hurting people, I think we can agree good works include the sanctification of our own souls as well as passing along what we have learned to others. In this article, I will share how God used the book of Ecclesiastes to minister to me in a difficult season of life and then used His truth through me to minister to others. I hope that you will be encouraged to let the living Word transform and shape your life and then provide rich counsel to others!
The last month has been a difficult season for me in many areas of my life. My son contracted COVID, my mother was hospitalized for bleeding in her head due to a fall, work has been a continual struggle due to being short-staffed and there have been numerous ups and downs in both counseling and church ministries I am involved in. Through all of this, I have found myself meditating regularly on James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds.”
The good news during this season is that the Lord directed me to the book of Ecclesiastes which provided the wisdom I needed, the same wisdom that James calls us to ask for. During a four-hour car trip to be with my mom, I listened to Kevin Carson’s message “Ecclesiastes: God’s Sovereignty in the Midst of Life.” In the Lord’s perfect timing, He also had me in Ecclesiastes in my normal daily Bible reading plan. I was grateful that the Lord was directing me to this book I had studied in the past for another season of my life.
Ecclesiastes is a book about God’s sovereignty in a “crooked” or fallen world. It is a book that gives us a very realistic look at life but continually points us to the joy that is found in trusting God, fearing God, and doing good (3:12, 7:14-18, 9:7-10, 12:13). There were two verses that most resonated with me during this season. First, 7:14, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other.” Second, after describing the seasons of life, then listing specifics of those different seasons, Solomon says in verse 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful (or appropriate) in its time.”
As I studied, I listened to Dr. Carson’s talk and meditated on these verses; I learned that life is hard, but God is always working! We are to expect the ups and downs of life, good things as well as hard things, but know that God is in the midst of all of them. Our response is to trust Him, fear Him, enjoy His gifts and obey Him in all the different aspects of our life. To paraphrase Dr. Carson, “in the good things in life, be thankful and enjoy them, but don’t hold on to them too tightly, they will soon pass away. In the hard times, endure them, seek the Lord through them, but remember, they will often be short-lived.” I was learning that this season of life was exactly what God was wanting me to go through. It was the fitting and appropriate circumstance I needed to draw me near to Him and grow me into Christlikeness. The beautiful thing about this season is that I can see clearly how God used his Word to minister to others in my sphere of influence.
In my family medicine practice, I regularly see patients going through divorce, addictions, dysfunctional work-life balance, and chronic disease. As I let the Lord guide me, He allowed me to share with my patients these truths I was learning from Ecclesiastes.
One example comes from a godly Christian man recently recovering from an ugly divorce. Through the ups and downs of trying to date again, I was able to encourage him with the truths of God’s perfect timing in this season of life and encourage him to hope in and fear the Lord as God works out his plan. God has repeatedly allowed me to share such truths, and I believe these truths have brought comfort and encouragement to these patients God brought along my path.
God allowed me to share the truths in Ecclesiastes again during a premarital counseling session focused on conflict. During this session, the question was asked, “Why does there have to be all this suffering and hardship in relationships? Why can’t God who created marriage let us get along without going through the struggles of conflict?” I reminded the couple that the world was fallen and because of this conflict is inevitable. However, God wants us to fear Him, worship Him and trust Him. All suffering is meant to point us to Christ. All hardship and conflict should lead us to more dependence on Christ. God desires an abiding relationship with us and the suffering we go through accomplishes this overarching goal!
Lastly, on a Sunday morning when I typically would have been at church, the Lord allowed me to be at the hospital with my mom, once again sharing truths from Ecclesiastes. By God’s grace, she was doing well that Sunday morning and the Lord allowed me to get to know her better than I have in the past. After listening to her life story, which had a lot of parallels to Solomon’s, I was able to ask her what she had learned from it all. I then shared the overall background of Solomon’s life and his writing Ecclesiastes. I shared how in the end he realized that life was hard, he had regrets but learned that there is purpose and meaning in life as he sought God. We talked about faith, repentance, and the hope found in the gospel. I left her with a prayer to seek refuge in the Lord by placing all her trust and faith in Christ. As the Lord guided and directed the long but fruitful day, I had great joy in connecting with my mom on a deeper level, sharing His Word of hope to a fellow sinner and sufferer.
I wish I could say that this difficult season was over, but it isn’t. I do know that God is with me and working. I know that all of life will be full of trials. The first promise from God that I remember truly applying to my life comes from John 16:33, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace, in this world you will be trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world.” Fellow counselor, you will have seasons of trouble and trials in life, but I pray that you allow God to use your trials to minister to your soul so that you will be thoroughly equipped to counsel others!
Questions for Application:
- Are you regularly in the Word praying that God may use it for your good and the good of others?
- Is there a specific book of the Bible God is calling you to study and know better to minister to others?
- What joy or hardship in life are you clinging to too tightly?
- What specific area of your life do you or your counselees need to trust God in and faithfully obey?
