”Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.“
Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 ESV
Better is the end of a thing that puts the temporary setbacks into perspective. The patient in spirit is one who sees the Lord working always and the challenges and trials are evaluated soberly according to the plan of God rather than immediate gratification. Remember: it’s the fool that sees only “right now.”
God isn’t limited in any way, of course; we are. Therein, as they say, is the rub. Wisdom grows in the fertile soil of the mind that’s thinking about reality aright. And the only way to do that is through understanding the “creature-Creator” distinction (as Van Til put it). God works in and through history. He works His purposes in and through the daily affairs of human life. Spiritual life shouldn’t be misconstrued. It’s not wholly separate from our vocation and recreation. In fact, those things are the activity in which our spiritual life is actualized. A faith that doesn’t change and direct our daily affairs isn’t Biblical faith at all.
This all means that we grow in faith and maturity through the processes of work and labor. We’d like to be done all at once with the business of sanctification sometimes. That’s understandable, but quite unwise. The “end of a thing” is to say the product of having worked through some enterprise or another. And by work we mean focused effort, not mere physical labor.
It’s customary for us to see work through a worldly lens and that meaning a Marxist one. Or we can see it as a sort of Gordon Gekko style enterprise where the only goal is to win. The Bible condemns both false beliefs. All things belong to the Lord – including and especially our labor. And it’s through our enterprises, education, and vocation that we devote our faithful energies to God (and service to neighbor). The “end of a thing” can be said, therefore, to be something quite temporal (like painting a room or writing a book) or much larger (like one’s overall career path).
Someone who is proud in spirit is often times easily frustrated. They can be easily angered due to the basic theological flaw at the core of their thinking, which is that the primary goal of life is their success rather than faith in God. Chronic unhappiness and a fiery temper are signs that we’ve placed our focus not on God’s will in our lives, but in ourselves. This improper focus will invariably cause us to view life’s frustrations and setbacks from a self-standard rather than a God-standard. We’ll see a challenge almost as a fatality because our theology is askew. The patient in spirit, on the other hand, see setbacks with the standard of faith. Like Abraham or Joseph, they look at life according to the power of God’s word. Impatience and anger at our circumstances are the product of intellectual faith rather than mature and powerful faith.
In Christ, setbacks and failures are seen for how they deepen our reliance upon Him. Outside of Christ, loss, frustration, and failure is intolerable and leads to bitterness and conflict.
Humility before God, and confidence in Him, gives us steadfastness; self-reliance and pride show up in quick tempers and truculent spirits.
The Bible doesn’t condemn anger insofar as it’s controlled. Think of Paul’s anger at the Athenian idolatry. How did he react to it? With the gospel. In all the Bible there’s little evidence that men and women are ever productive in our anger. It is Jesus alone who in all the record of Scripture we see “lowering the boom” against the money-changers and the Pharisees. That Christ isn’t angry at us is reason enough to let go of our anger. That our unfaithfulness to Him has been met with love and grace is what drives out anger.
Rage lodges in the heart of fools because it’s unresolved. The anger of the unfaithful has no ultimate recourse because there is no ultimate justice at Judgment Day. For the Christian, Judgment Day is both a source of comfort and a humility. We know that God will judge the secrets of men and bring all deeds to light. This keeps us from becoming hopeless and bitter in the face of injustice. Anger can’t lodge in the heart of the man or woman who knows that God will do the right thing (Genesis 18:25).
But because of this great fact (Judgment) we also tremble. What can a man or woman be but humble when they realize how blessed they truly are that God will not count their sin, not because of works, but because of grace? The cross of Christ is amazing, isn’t it? It’s the antidote against impatience and anger because it shows that God will one day bring all things under His control. This great truth changes everything. The Bible doesn’t say that self-control and patience are good just because they are. Scripture isn’t utilitarian. Patience is good because of who we’re waiting on!
So, we see how foolish it is to live under the mental regime of unbelief. For now, we work and play in light of the Great Day and the Great Truth of the Day of the Lord. Are you hurting? Have you fallen or been knocked down? Or are you in the middle of your days and has boredom crept in? Whatever it is, the end of a thing is coming. You will stand before Christ and that’s the goal of it all. The goal isn’t worldly success although that’s certainly nice. The goal is faithfulness. The goal is hopeful (faithful) patience that guides us in all things. The goal is to hear Him say, “Come rest, child, for you have done a good job, My faithful servant…and let Me explain all to you now…let Me wipe away every tear.”
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